English
generate
Generate comes from Latin genus ‘a kind, race, family’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *ǵenh₁- ‘to produce, beget’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ǵenh₁-1‘to produce, beget’reconstructed
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ǵénh₁os1‘race’reconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*genos1reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEgenus2‘a kind, race, family’
- Englishearliest quotation 1883generate2
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
- 1 Wiktionary, Latin genus
- 2 Wiktionary, English generate
- Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1883, Thomas Hardy: “Mrs. Fennel, seeing the steam begin to generate on…”.
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ǵenh₁-Wiktionary, Latin genus‘to produce, beget’reconstructed
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ǵénh₁osWiktionary, Latin genus‘race’reconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*genosWiktionary, Latin genusreconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEgenusWiktionary, English generate‘a kind, race, family’
- Englishearliest quotation 1883generateWiktionary, English generate. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1883, Thomas Hardy: “Mrs. Fennel, seeing the steam begin to generate on…”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *ǵenh₁- ‘to produce, beget’
kind, king, nature, nation, pregnant, german, native, engine, ken, genius, indigenous, genuine, genetic, gentle, naive, kin, noel, genesis, natal, nada, genital, innate, ingenious, nativity, nee, nascent, puny, janata, germ, gentile, jaunty, gens, genial, degeneration, cognate, azadi, gingerly, genitive, genteel, nomen, 98 more
through Proto-Indo-European *ǵénh₁os ‘race’
oxygen, hydrogen, genocide, genealogy, glycogen, estrogenic, 28 more
through Proto-Italic *genos
transgender, engender, 14 more
through Latin genus ‘a kind, race, family’
Today it means
verb To bring into being; give rise to.
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “generate”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Latin genus. 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 *ǵenh₁- / generate