English
hour
Hour comes from Ancient Greek ὥρᾱ ‘any defined period of time’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *yóh₁r̥ ‘year, season’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*yóh₁r̥1‘year’reconstructed
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEὥρᾱ1hṓrā‘any defined period of time’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEhōra1
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400houre1
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500houre1
- Englishearliest quotation 1661hour1
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
- 1 Wiktionary, English hour
- Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1661, John Fell, The Life of the most learned: “During the whole time of his abode in the…”.
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*yóh₁r̥Wiktionary, English hour‘year’reconstructed
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEὥρᾱWiktionary, English hourhṓrā‘any defined period of time’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEhōraWiktionary, English hour
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400houreWiktionary, English hour
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500houreWiktionary, English hour
- Englishearliest quotation 1661hourWiktionary, English hour. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1661, John Fell, The Life of the most learned: “During the whole time of his abode in the…”
The story
Partly displaced native Old English tīd (‘time, hour’), whence Modern English tide.
Word family
English words that share an ancestor with hour, grouped by the ancestor they share, most familiar first.
through Proto-Indo-European *(H)yeh₁- ‘to throw’
- project ← prōiectus ← prōiciō ← iaciō ← *(H)yéh₁kt ~ *(H)ih₁ként
- disease ← disese ← desese ← desaise ← eise
- object ← obiectum ← obiectus ← obiciō ← iaciō
- ease ← ese ← ese ← eise ← adiacēns
- jet ← get ← *iectus ← iactus ← iaciō
- adjacent ← adiacēns ← adiaceō ← iaceō ← iaciō
- injection ← iniectio ← iniciō ← iaciō ← *(H)yéh₁kt ~ *(H)ih₁ként
- jess ← ges ← gies ← *iectus ← iactō
- trajectory ← trāiectōria ← trāiectus
- inject ← iniectus ← injiciō ← iaciō ← *jak-i-
- catheter ← καθετήρ ← καθίημι ← ἵημι ← *yīyēmi
- gist ← gesir ← iaceo ← iaciō ← *(H)yéh₁kt ~ *(H)ih₁ként
64 more relatives in the full family tree
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Today it means
noun A unit of time of one twenty-fourth of a day (sixty minutes).
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “hour”. 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 *yóh₁r̥ / hour