Etymograph

English

hot

Hot comes from Old English hāt, from Proto-Germanic *haitaz ‘hot’, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *keHy- ‘to heat’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*keHy-1‘to heat; to become hot’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*haitaz1‘hot’reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*hait1reconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150hāt1‘hot’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500hot1
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1938hot1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English hot
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1938, Harold M. Sherman, Published by Boy Scouts of America: “"Keep going! You're hot tonight!" urged Wally.”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*keHy-Wiktionary, English hot‘to heat; to become hot’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*haitazWiktionary, English hot‘hot’reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*haitWiktionary, English hotreconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150hātWiktionary, English hot‘hot’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500hotWiktionary, English hot
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1938hotWiktionary, English hot. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1938, Harold M. Sherman, Published by Boy Scouts of America: “"Keep going! You're hot tonight!" urged Wally.”

Word family

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

through Proto-Indo-European *dʰeh₁- ‘to do’

  • do ← don ← dōn ← *dōn ← *dōną
  • fact ← factum ← factus ← faciō
  • deal ← delen ← dǣlan ← *dailijan ← *dailijaną
  • fair ← feyre ← foire ← fēriae ← *fēziās
  • defense ← defens ← defens ← dēfēnsa ← dēfendō
  • fan ← fanatic ← fānāticu
  • benefit ← benefytt
  • fashion ← facioun ← fechoun
  • feature ← feture ← feture ← faiture ← factūra
  • mid ← midd ← *midi ← *midjaz ← *médʰyos
  • theme ← teme ← teme
  • defence ← defens ← defens ← dēfēnsa ← dēfendō

158 more relatives in the full family tree

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Today it means

adj Having or giving off a high temperature.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “hot”. 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- / hot