Etymograph

English

fungi

Fungi comes from Latin fungor ‘to perform, execute, administer, discharge,…’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *bʰewg- ‘to enjoy, to be of use’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*bʰewg-1‘to enjoy, to be of use’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*bʰu-né-g-ti1reconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*fungōr1reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEfungor2as fungī‘to perform, execute, administer, discharge, finish, complete or end something, observe’
  5. Englishtodayfungi2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin fungor
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English fungi

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*bʰewg-Wiktionary, Latin fungor‘to enjoy, to be of use’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*bʰu-né-g-tiWiktionary, Latin fungorreconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*fungōrWiktionary, Latin fungorreconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEfungorWiktionary, English fungias fungī‘to perform, execute, administer, discharge, finish, complete or end something, observe’
  5. EnglishtodayfungiWiktionary, English fungi

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *bʰewg- ‘to enjoy, to be of use’

refugee, refuge, fugue, perfunctory, 15 more

through Proto-Italic *fungōr

functionary, 3 more

through Latin fungor ‘to perform, execute, administer, discharge,…’

function, defunct, 4 more

Today it means

noun Spongy, abnormal growth, as granulation tissue formed in a wound.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “fungi”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Latin fungor. 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 *bʰewg- / fungi

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