Etymograph

English

fat

Fat comes from Middle English fat ‘fattened, fatted’, from Proto-West Germanic *faitijan ‘to make fat’, and ultimately from *fait.

  1. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*fait1reconstructed
  2. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*faitijan1‘to make fat’reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*faitid1‘fatted’reconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150fǣtt1‘fatted’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500fat1‘fattened’
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1611fat1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English fat
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1611, The Holy Bible, London: […] Robert Barker: “Make the heart of this people fat,[…]”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*faitWiktionary, English fatreconstructed
  2. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*faitijanWiktionary, English fat‘to make fat’reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*faitidWiktionary, English fat‘fatted’reconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150fǣttWiktionary, English fat‘fatted’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500fatWiktionary, English fat‘fattened’
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1611fatWiktionary, English fat. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1611, The Holy Bible, London: […] Robert Barker: “Make the heart of this people fat,[…]”

Word family

English words that share an ancestor with fat, grouped by the ancestor they share, most familiar first.

through Old English fǣtt ‘fatted, fat’

through Middle English fat ‘fattened, fatted’

Explore everything descended from *fait →

Another origin of fat

  1. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*faitąreconstructed
  2. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*fait‘fat (substance)’reconstructed
  3. Old Englishc. 450–1150fǣt
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500fat‘vessel’
  5. Englishtodayfat

From Middle English fat, fatt, fatte, from the adjective above, and possibly from Old English fǣt (“fat”, recorded once), from Proto-West Germanic *fait, from Proto-Germanic *faitą, *faitaz (‘fat’).

Another origin of fat

  1. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*fātusreconstructedearlier origin unknown
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEfatuus‘foolish, silly, simple, stupid’
  3. Old Occitanc. 950–1500fat
  4. Frenchc. 1600–presentfat‘conceited person’
  5. Englishtodayfat

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Today it means

adj Carrying more fat than usual on one's body; plump; not lean or thin.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “fat”. 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-West Germanic *fait / fat