Etymograph

English

impactor

Impactor comes from New Latin impāctor, from impingō ‘to force, drive, thrust, push towards a…’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *peh₂ǵ- ‘to attach, fix, fasten’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*peh₂ǵ-1‘to attach, fix, fasten’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*pangō1‘to fasten, fix’reconstructed
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpangō1‘fasten, drive in’
  4. New Latinc. 1500–1900impingō2‘to force, drive, thrust, push towards a location by force’
  5. New Latin, derivedc. 1500–1900impāctor2
  6. Englishearliest quotation 2021impactor2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin impingo
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English impactor
  3. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 2021, Becky Ferreira, Where Did the Dinosaur-Killing Impactor Come From?: “Although Dr. Bottke remains unconvinced that the impactor had…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*peh₂ǵ-Wiktionary, Latin impingo‘to attach, fix, fasten’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*pangōWiktionary, Latin impingo‘to fasten, fix’reconstructed
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpangōWiktionary, Latin impingo‘fasten, drive in’
  4. New Latinc. 1500–1900impingōWiktionary, English impactor‘to force, drive, thrust, push towards a location by force’
  5. New Latin, derivedc. 1500–1900impāctorWiktionary, English impactor
  6. Englishearliest quotation 2021impactorWiktionary, English impactor. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 2021, Becky Ferreira, Where Did the Dinosaur-Killing Impactor Come From?: “Although Dr. Bottke remains unconvinced that the impactor had…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *peh₂ǵ- ‘to attach, fix, fasten’

travel, page, pole, propaganda, pale, peel, peasant, pagan, propagate, travail, pala, palisade, pectin, pagination, 29 more

through Latin pangō ‘fasten, drive in’

compact, 1 more

through New Latin impingō ‘to force, drive, thrust, push towards a…’

impinge, 1 more

Today it means

noun Any of several machines or devices in which a part impacts on another, or on a material.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “impactor”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Latin impingo. 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 *peh₂ǵ- / impactor

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