Etymograph

English

incontaminate

Incontaminate comes from Latin incontaminatus ‘uncontaminated’, from Proto-Italic *n̥- ‘un-’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *né ‘not’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*né1‘not’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*n̥-1‘not’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*n̥-1‘un-’reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEincontaminatus2‘uncontaminated’
  5. Englishearliest quotation 1664incontaminate2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin in-
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English incontaminate
  3. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1664, Henry More, [The Apology of Dr. Henry More, […].] Chapter X.: “Ye that phanſy your ſelves the onely Zelots for…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*néWiktionary, Latin in-‘not’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*n̥-Wiktionary, Latin in-‘not’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*n̥-Wiktionary, Latin in-‘un-’reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEincontaminatusWiktionary, English incontaminate‘uncontaminated’
  5. Englishearliest quotation 1664incontaminateWiktionary, English incontaminate. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1664, Henry More, [The Apology of Dr. Henry More, […].] Chapter X.: “Ye that phanſy your ſelves the onely Zelots for…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *né ‘not’

no, negative, na, ne, necessity, negotiate, renegade, negotiator, negate, renege, 13 more

through Proto-Indo-European *n̥- ‘not’

ungodly, 6 more

Today it means

adj Not contaminated; pure.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “incontaminate”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Latin in-. 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 *né / incontaminate

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