Etymograph

English

fundament

Fundament comes from Latin fundāmentum ‘foundation’, from fundus ‘bottom, lowest point’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *bʰudʰmḗn.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*bʰudʰmḗn1‘bottom’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*bʰudʰnós1reconstructed
  3. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*bʰundʰós1reconstructed
  4. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*fundos1reconstructed
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEfundus1‘bottom, lowest point’
  6. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEfundō2‘to lay the bottom, to found’
  7. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEfundāmentum2‘foundation’
  8. Old Frenchc. 842–1400fundement2
  9. Englishearliest quotation 1703fundament2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin fundo
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English fundament
  3. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1703, Thomas Gibson: “It [the Sphincter Ani] serves to purse up the…”.

Earlier history uncertain. See Wiktionary.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*bʰudʰmḗnWiktionary, Latin fundo‘bottom’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*bʰudʰnósWiktionary, Latin fundoreconstructed
  3. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*bʰundʰósWiktionary, Latin fundoreconstructed
  4. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*fundosWiktionary, Latin fundoreconstructed
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEfundusWiktionary, Latin fundo‘bottom, lowest point’
  6. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEfundōWiktionary, English fundament‘to lay the bottom, to found’
  7. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEfundāmentumWiktionary, English fundament‘foundation’
  8. Old Frenchc. 842–1400fundementWiktionary, English fundament
  9. Englishearliest quotation 1703fundamentWiktionary, English fundament. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1703, Thomas Gibson: “It [the Sphincter Ani] serves to purse up the…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *dʰewbʰ- ‘to sink in’

deep, depth, dumb, dave, dip, deaf, dove, dub, bottomless, typhus, doof, 19 more

through Proto-Indo-European *bʰudʰmḗn ‘bottom’

bottom, bot, bourne, 13 more

through Proto-Indo-European *bʰudʰnós

butte, 9 more

through Proto-Italic *fundos

fonds, 9 more

through Latin fundus ‘bottom, lowest point’

fond, honda, profundity, fundus, 10 more

through Latin fundō ‘to lay the bottom, to found’

foundation, founder, confusion, fusion, confuse, refund, diffuse, funnel, infuse, confound, 46 more

Today it means

noun Foundation.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “fundament”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Latin fundo. 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 *bʰudʰmḗn / fundament

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