Etymograph

English

fils

Fils comes from French fils ‘son’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *dʰh₁i-l-yo-s ‘sucker’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*dʰh₁i-l-yo-s1‘sucker’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*fīlios2‘son’reconstructed
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEfilius3‘son’
  4. Old Frenchc. 842–1400fils3
  5. Frenchc. 1600–presentfils4‘son’
  6. Englishtodayfils4

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Proto-Italic *fīlios
  2. 2 Wiktionary, Latin filius
  3. 3 Wiktionary, French fils
  4. 4 Wiktionary, English fils

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*dʰh₁i-l-yo-sWiktionary, Proto-Italic *fīlios‘sucker’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*fīliosWiktionary, Latin filius‘son’reconstructed
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEfiliusWiktionary, French fils‘son’
  4. Old Frenchc. 842–1400filsWiktionary, French fils
  5. Frenchc. 1600–presentfilsWiktionary, English fils‘son’
  6. EnglishtodayfilsWiktionary, English fils

Linked words

through Latin filius ‘son’

affiliate, filial, 10 more

Another origin of fils

  1. Arabicc. 500–presentفلس
  2. Englishtodayfils

Today it means

adj Used after a proper name that is common to a father and his son to indicate that the son is being referred to rather than the father.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “fils”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Proto-Italic *fīlios, Latin filius, French fils. 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 *dʰh₁i-l-yo-s / fils

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