Etymograph

English

imago

Imago comes from Latin imāgō ‘image, imitation, likeness, statue,…’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *h₂eym-.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₂eym-1‘to imitate’reconstructed
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEimāgō2‘image, imitation, likeness, statue, representation’
  3. Englishearliest quotation 1973imago2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin imago
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English imago
  3. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1973, Patrick O'Brian: “‘But still,’ he said to himself, drawing the metamorphoses…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₂eym-Wiktionary, Latin imago‘to imitate’reconstructed
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEimāgōWiktionary, English imago‘image, imitation, likeness, statue, representation’
  3. Englishearliest quotation 1973imagoWiktionary, English imago. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1973, Patrick O'Brian: “‘But still,’ he said to himself, drawing the metamorphoses…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *h₂eym- ‘to imitate’

emulate, imitation, imitate, emulation, imagines, imitator, 5 more

through Latin imāgō ‘image, imitation, likeness, statue,…’

imagine, image, imagination, imaginary, 4 more

Today it means

noun The final developmental stage of an insect after undergoing metamorphosis.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “imago”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Latin imago. 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 *h₂eym- / imago

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