Etymograph

English

gerund

Gerund comes from Latin gerundium ‘the gerund’, from gerendus ‘which is to be carried out’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₂eǵ-.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₂eǵ-1reconstructed
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*gezō2‘to carry, bear’reconstructed
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEgerō3‘carry, bear’
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEgerendus3‘which is to be carried out’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEgerundium3‘the gerund’
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1991gerund3

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Proto-Italic *gezō
  2. 2 Wiktionary, Latin gero
  3. 3 Wiktionary, English gerund
  4. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1991, Edward Johnson, The Handbook of Good English: “Compounds in which gerunds are the second element look…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₂eǵ-Wiktionary, Proto-Italic *gezōreconstructed
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*gezōWiktionary, Latin gero‘to carry, bear’reconstructed
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEgerōWiktionary, English gerund‘carry, bear’
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEgerendusWiktionary, English gerund‘which is to be carried out’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEgerundiumWiktionary, English gerund‘the gerund’
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1991gerundWiktionary, English gerund. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1991, Edward Johnson, The Handbook of Good English: “Compounds in which gerunds are the second element look…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *h₂eǵ-

act, action, active, activity, actual, strategy, actor, agency, agent, suggest, essay, acre, agenda, activate, agony, ambiguous, squat, agile, ambiguity, agility, antagonist, assay, agrarian, agitation, digestion, axiom, antagonism, agonist, radium, actuator, agitate, antagonize, digestible, cogent, actuation, glucagon, samaj, inexact, stratagem, agonize, 139 more

through Latin gerō ‘carry, bear’

register, suggestion, gesture, congestion, digest, gestation, ingestion, belligerent, progesterone, ingest, gestion, agger, 14 more

Today it means

noun A verbal form that functions as a verbal noun.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “gerund”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Proto-Italic *gezō, Latin gero. 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 *h₂eǵ- / gerund

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