Etymograph

English

grace

Grace comes from Old French grace, from Latin grātia ‘kindness, favour’, from grātus ‘pleasing’, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *gʷerH- ‘to praise’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*gʷerH-1‘to praise’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*gʷr̥Htós1reconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*gʷrātos2‘agreeable’reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEgrātus1‘pleasing’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEgrātia1‘kindness’
  6. Old Frenchc. 842–1400grace1‘grace’
  7. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500grace1‘the grace of God’
  8. Englishearliest quotation 1591grace1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English grace
  2. 2 Wiktionary, Latin gratus
  3. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1591, William Shakespeare, The Second Part of Henry the Sixt, […]: “We are graced with wreaths of victory.”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*gʷerH-Wiktionary, English grace‘to praise’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*gʷr̥HtósWiktionary, English gracereconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*gʷrātosWiktionary, Latin gratus‘agreeable’reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEgrātusWiktionary, English grace‘pleasing’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEgrātiaWiktionary, English grace‘kindness’
  6. Old Frenchc. 842–1400graceWiktionary, English grace‘grace’
  7. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500graceWiktionary, English grace‘the grace of God’
  8. Englishearliest quotation 1591graceWiktionary, English grace. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1591, William Shakespeare, The Second Part of Henry the Sixt, […]: “We are graced with wreaths of victory.”

The story

The word displaced the native Middle English held, hield (‘grace’) (from Old English held, hyld (‘grace’)), Middle English este (‘grace, favour, pleasure’) (from Old English ēst (‘grace, kindness, favour’)), Middle English athmede(n) (‘grace’) (from Old English ēadmēdu (‘grace’)), Middle English are, ore (‘grace, mercy, honour’) (from Old English ār (‘honour, grace, kindness, mercy’)).

Full etymology on Wiktionary

Word family

English words that share an ancestor with grace, grouped by the ancestor they share, most familiar first.

through Proto-Indo-European *gʷerH- ‘to praise, welcome’

  • agree ← agreen ← agreer ← ad

through Latin grātus ‘pleasing’

  • agreement ← agrement ← agrement ← agreer ← gré
  • gratitude ← gratitudō
  • congratulate ← congrātulātus ← congrātulor ← grātulor ← *grātulus
  • grate
  • congratulation ← congratulacion ← congrātulātiō ← congrātulor ← grātulor
  • gratis ← grātiīs
  • gree ← gre ← gré ← gratum

through Latin grātia ‘kindness, favour, esteem’

20 more relatives in the full family tree

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Today it means

noun Charming, pleasing qualities.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “grace”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Latin gratus. 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 *gʷerH- / grace