English
hypothecate
Hypothecate comes from Latin hypothecatus, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *dʰeh₁- ‘to do’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*dʰeh₁-1‘to do’root named by Wiktionary
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEhypothecatus1
- Englishearliest quotation 1943hypothecate1
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
- 1 Wiktionary, English hypothecate
- Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1943, Raymond Chandler, The High Window: “‘My husband, Jasper Murdock, provided in his will that…”.
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*dʰeh₁-Wiktionary, English hypothecate‘to do’root named by Wiktionary
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEhypothecatusWiktionary, English hypothecate
- Englishearliest quotation 1943hypothecateWiktionary, English hypothecate. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1943, Raymond Chandler, The High Window: “‘My husband, Jasper Murdock, provided in his will that…”
The story
This was in turn derived from Ancient Greek ὑποθήκη (hupothḗkē, “pledge”), from the verb ὑποτίθημι (hupotíthēmi, “to pledge as surety”).
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *dʰeh₁- ‘to do’
do, fact, deal, fair, hot, defense, fan, benefit, fashion, mid, feature, defence, custom, sufficient, theme, treasury, ethnic, treasure, defendant, feast, doom, tick, ethical, aesthetic, deed, dis, thesis, synthetic, theology, auditorium, auditor, demi, ethic, deem, spade, forfeit, feral, familial, medial, atheist, 128 more
Today it means
verb To pledge (something) as surety for a loan; to pawn, mortgage.
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “hypothecate”. 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 *dʰeh₁- / hypothecate