English
impetrate
Impetrate comes from Latin impetrātus ‘accomplished, having been accomplished’, from pater ‘father (male parent)’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ph₂tḗr.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ph₂tḗr1‘father’reconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*patēr1‘father’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpater1‘father (male parent)’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpatrō1‘accomplish’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEimpetrō2‘accomplish, obtain’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEimpetrātus3‘accomplished, having been accomplished’
- Englishearliest quotation 1649impetrate3
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
- 1 Wiktionary, Latin impetro
- 2 Wiktionary, Latin impetratus
- 3 Wiktionary, English impetrate
- Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1649, Edward Herbert: “If the one were impetrate after the other ,…”.
Earlier history uncertain. See Wiktionary.
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ph₂tḗrWiktionary, Latin impetro‘father’reconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*patērWiktionary, Latin impetro‘father’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpaterWiktionary, Latin impetro‘father (male parent)’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpatrōWiktionary, Latin impetro‘accomplish’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEimpetrōWiktionary, Latin impetratus‘accomplish, obtain’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEimpetrātusWiktionary, English impetrate‘accomplished, having been accomplished’
- Englishearliest quotation 1649impetrateWiktionary, English impetrate. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1649, Edward Herbert: “If the one were impetrate after the other ,…”
first attested First attested in 1528 (as stated in Wiktionary’s etymology)
The story
First attested in 1528; borrowed from Latin impetrātus, perfect passive participle of impetrō (see -ate (verb-forming suffix) and -ate (adjective-forming suffix)), from in- + pātrō (‘to achieve, make happen’).
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *peh₂- ‘to protect, to ward’
company, food, pain, feed, apparent, pope, foster, pastor, fur, companion, papal, fodder, pasture, fad, penetration, accompaniment, forage, panini, pav, fatherly, patrician, pantaloons, pannier, 55 more
through Proto-Indo-European *ph₂tḗr ‘father’
through Proto-Italic *patēr ‘father’
through Latin pater ‘father (male parent)’
pattern, papa, patron, padre, paternity, paternal, pater, patrimony, compere, 16 more
through Latin patrō ‘accomplish’
Today it means
verb To obtain by asking; to procure upon request.
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “impetrate”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Latin impetro, Latin impetratus. 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 *ph₂tḗr / impetrate