Etymograph

English

fatal

Fatal comes from Middle French fatal ‘fatal (due to fate)’, from Latin fātus ‘spoken, said, told, foretold, related, predicted’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *bʰeh₂- ‘to shine, glow light’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*bʰeh₂-1‘to shine, glow light’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*bʰh₂-tó-s1reconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*fātos1reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEfātus1‘spoken, said, told, foretold, related, predicted’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEfātum1
  6. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEfātālis2
  7. Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600fatal2‘fatal (due to fate)’
  8. Englishearliest quotation 1892fatal2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin fatalis
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English fatal
  3. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1892, Walter Besant, Prologue: Who is Edmund Gray?: “Such a scandal as the prosecution of a brother…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*bʰeh₂-Wiktionary, Latin fatalis‘to shine, glow light’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*bʰh₂-tó-sWiktionary, Latin fatalisreconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*fātosWiktionary, Latin fatalisreconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEfātusWiktionary, Latin fatalis‘spoken, said, told, foretold, related, predicted’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEfātumWiktionary, Latin fatalis
  6. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEfātālisWiktionary, English fatal
  7. Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600fatalWiktionary, English fatal‘fatal (due to fate)’
  8. Englishearliest quotation 1892fatalWiktionary, English fatal. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1892, Walter Besant, Prologue: Who is Edmund Gray?: “Such a scandal as the prosecution of a brother…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *bʰeh₂- ‘to shine, glow light’

phone, focus, professor, fuel, ben, phase, famous, ban, favourite, favor, photographer, emphasis, phenomenon, profession, bee, fancy, fantasy, abandon, fame, confession, fabulous, confess, phantom, symphony, beacon, infant, beck, boon, eff, bane, prophetic, epiphany, foyer, banish, buoy, fab, bene, fay, fable, nefarious, 126 more

through Proto-Indo-European *bʰh₂-tó-s

profess, 1 more

through Latin fātus ‘spoken, said, told, foretold, related, predicted’

fairy, fate

through Latin fātum

fado, 1 more

Today it means

adj Proceeding from, or appointed by, fate or destiny.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “fatal”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Latin fatalis. 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 *bʰeh₂- / fatal

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