English
industrial
Industrial comes from French industriel, from industrie ‘diligence, industry’, from Latin industria ‘diligence, energetic activity’.
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEindustria1‘energetic activity’
- Frenchc. 1600–presentindustrie2‘diligence’
- Frenchc. 1600–presentindustriel3
- Englishearliest quotation 1913industrial3
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
- 1 Wiktionary, French industrie
- 2 Wiktionary, French industriel
- 3 Wiktionary, English industrial
- Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1913, There Is Power in a Union: “Come, all ye workers, from every land, / Come,…”.
Lineage
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEindustriaWiktionary, French industrie‘energetic activity’
- Frenchc. 1600–presentindustrieWiktionary, French industriel‘diligence’
- Frenchc. 1600–presentindustrielWiktionary, English industrial
- Englishearliest quotation 1913industrialWiktionary, English industrial. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1913, There Is Power in a Union: “Come, all ye workers, from every land, / Come,…”
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Today it means
adj Of or relating to industry, notably manufacturing.
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “industrial”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for French industrie, French industriel. 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 / Latin industria / industrial