Etymograph

English

heritage

Heritage comes from Old French eritage, from Latin hērēs ‘heir, heiress’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰeh₁- ‘to leave behind, abandon’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ǵʰeh₁-1‘to leave behind, abandon’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ǵʰeh₁ro-1‘derelict’reconstructed
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEhērēs2‘heir, heiress’
  4. Old Frenchc. 842–1400eritage2
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500heritage2
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1652heritage2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin heres
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English heritage
  3. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1652, John Robotham, London: “Now unſpeakable happy are all thoſe that have ſuch…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ǵʰeh₁-Wiktionary, Latin heres‘to leave behind, abandon’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ǵʰeh₁ro-Wiktionary, Latin heres‘derelict’reconstructed
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEhērēsWiktionary, English heritage‘heir, heiress’
  4. Old Frenchc. 842–1400eritageWiktionary, English heritage
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500heritageWiktionary, English heritage
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1652heritageWiktionary, English heritage. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1652, John Robotham, London: “Now unſpeakable happy are all thoſe that have ſuch…”

Word family

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

through Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰeh₁- ‘to leave behind, abandon’

  • go ← gon ← gān ← *gān ← *gāną
  • gone ← gon ← gān ← *gānaz ← *gāną
  • forego ← forgan ← foregān ← gān ← *gān
  • inherit ← enheriten ← enheriter ← inhereditō ← hērēditō

through Latin hērēs ‘heir, heiress’

  • heir ← eir
  • hereditary ← hereditarie ← hērēditārius ← hērēditās
  • heredity ← heredité ← eredité ← hērēditas

22 more relatives in the full family tree

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Today it means

noun An inheritance; property that may be inherited.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “heritage”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Latin heres. 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 *ǵʰeh₁- / heritage