Etymograph

English

hostility

Hostility comes from Latin hostīlitās ‘hostility, enmity’, from hostis ‘enemy’, and perhaps ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *gʰes- ‘to eat’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*gʰes-1‘to eat’uncertain
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*gʰóstis2‘guest, stranger’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*hostis2‘stranger, guest’reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEhostis3‘enemy’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEhostilis4‘hostile’
  6. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEhostīlitās5‘hostility, enmity’
  7. Old Frenchc. 842–1400hostilité5
  8. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500hostilitie5
  9. Englishearliest quotation 1603hostility5

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Proto-Indo-European *gʰóstis
  2. 2 Wiktionary, Latin hostis
  3. 3 Wiktionary, Latin hostilis
  4. 4 Wiktionary, Latin hostilitas
  5. 5 Wiktionary, English hostility
  6. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1603, Michel de Montaigne, The Essayes […]: “There is no hostilitie so excellent, as that which…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*gʰes-Wiktionary, Proto-Indo-European *gʰóstis‘to eat’uncertain
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*gʰóstisWiktionary, Latin hostis‘guest, stranger’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*hostisWiktionary, Latin hostis‘stranger, guest’reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEhostisWiktionary, Latin hostilis‘enemy’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEhostilisWiktionary, Latin hostilitas‘hostile’
  6. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEhostīlitāsWiktionary, English hostility‘hostility, enmity’
  7. Old Frenchc. 842–1400hostilitéWiktionary, English hostility
  8. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500hostilitieWiktionary, English hostility
  9. Englishearliest quotation 1603hostilityWiktionary, English hostility. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1603, Michel de Montaigne, The Essayes […]: “There is no hostilitie so excellent, as that which…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *gʰóstis ‘guest, stranger’

guest, xenon, xenia, 9 more

Today it means

noun The state of being hostile.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “hostility”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Proto-Indo-European *gʰóstis, Latin hostis, Latin hostilis, Latin hostilitas. 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 *gʰes- / hostility

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