Etymograph

English

fanum

Fanum comes from Latin fānum ‘shrine’, from Proto-Italic *faznom ‘temple’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *dʰeh₁- ‘to do’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*dʰeh₁-1‘to do’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*dʰéh₁s2‘god’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*dʰh₁s-nó-m2reconstructed
  4. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*faznom2‘temple’reconstructed
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEfānum3‘shrine’
  6. Englishtodayfanum3

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Proto-Indo-European *dʰéh₁s
  2. 2 Wiktionary, Latin fanum
  3. 3 Wiktionary, English fanum

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*dʰeh₁-Wiktionary, Proto-Indo-European *dʰéh₁s‘to do’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*dʰéh₁sWiktionary, Latin fanum‘god’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*dʰh₁s-nó-mWiktionary, Latin fanumreconstructed
  4. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*faznomWiktionary, Latin fanum‘temple’reconstructed
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEfānumWiktionary, English fanum‘shrine’
  6. EnglishtodayfanumWiktionary, English fanum

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *dʰeh₁- ‘to do’

do, deal, hot, fact, defense, benefit, feature, mid, theme, fashion, defence, custom, ethnic, sufficient, treasury, treasure, fan, ethical, thesis, aesthetic, synthetic, doom, tick, defendant, deed, ethic, auditor, demi, deem, spade, thematic, ethos, forfeit, medial, medallion, prefect, certify, familial, thesaurus, anesthetic, 113 more

through Proto-Indo-European *dʰéh₁s ‘god’

fair, feast, theology, dis, atheist, atheism, feral, theism, apotheosis, theist, fayre, 23 more

through Latin fānum ‘shrine’

fanatic, profanity, profane, fane

Today it means

noun The site of an Ancient Roman temple or shrine.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “fanum”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Proto-Indo-European *dʰéh₁s, Latin fanum. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *dʰeh₁- / fanum

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