Etymograph

English

gratuitous

Gratuitous comes from Latin grātuītus ‘free’, from grātia ‘favor’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *gʷerH- ‘to welcome, greet, praise’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*gʷerH-1‘to welcome, greet, praise’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*gʷr̥H-tó-s1reconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*gʷrātos1‘grateful, thankful’reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEgrātus2‘pleasing’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEgrātia3‘favor’
  6. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEgrātuītus3‘free’
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1983gratuitous3

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin gratus
  2. 2 Wiktionary, Latin gratia
  3. 3 Wiktionary, English gratuitous
  4. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1983, Lorenzo Semple Jr., Never Say Never Again: “Good to see you Mr. Bond. Things've been awfully…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*gʷerH-Wiktionary, Latin gratus‘to welcome, greet, praise’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*gʷr̥H-tó-sWiktionary, Latin gratusreconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*gʷrātosWiktionary, Latin gratus‘grateful, thankful’reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEgrātusWiktionary, Latin gratia‘pleasing’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEgrātiaWiktionary, English gratuitous‘favor’
  6. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEgrātuītusWiktionary, English gratuitous‘free’
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1983gratuitousWiktionary, English gratuitous. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1983, Lorenzo Semple Jr., Never Say Never Again: “Good to see you Mr. Bond. Things've been awfully…”

Linked words

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

agree, 10 more

through Latin grātus ‘pleasing’

agreement, gratitude, congratulate, grate, gratis, congratulation, gree, 8 more

through Latin grātia ‘favor’

grace, gracious, gracias, 2 more

Today it means

adj Given freely; unearned.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “gratuitous”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Latin gratus, Latin gratia. 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- / gratuitous

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