Etymograph

English

heat

Heat comes from Middle English hete ‘heat’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *keHy-.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*keHy-1‘heat’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*haitį̄1reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*haitī1reconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150hǣtu1
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500hete1‘heat’
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1767heat1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English heat
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1767, John Dryden, THE MISCELLANEOUS WORKS OF JOHN DRYDEN: “…many pauses are required for refreshment betwixt the heats….”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*keHy-Wiktionary, English heat‘heat’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*haitį̄Wiktionary, English heatreconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*haitīWiktionary, English heatreconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150hǣtuWiktionary, English heat
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500heteWiktionary, English heat‘heat’
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1767heatWiktionary, English heat. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1767, John Dryden, THE MISCELLANEOUS WORKS OF JOHN DRYDEN: “…many pauses are required for refreshment betwixt the heats….”

The story

Related also to Dutch hitte (‘heat’), German Hitze (‘heat’), Swedish hetta (‘heat’), Faroese and Icelandic hiti (‘heat’).

Full etymology on Wiktionary

Word family

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

through Proto-Indo-European *keHy-

  • het ← hette ← hǣtte ← hǣtan ← *haitijaną

Explore everything descended from *keHy- →

Another origin of heat

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*keHy-‘to be hot’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*keHid-o-sreconstructed
  3. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*haitaz‘hot’reconstructed
  4. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*haitijaną‘to heat, make hot’reconstructed
  5. Old Englishc. 450–1150hǣtan‘to heat’
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500heten
  7. Englishtodayheat

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Today it means

noun Thermal energy.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “heat”. 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 *keHy- / heat