Etymograph

English

inimicous

Inimicous comes from Latin inimicus ‘unfriendly, hostile, inimical’, from amīcus ‘friend’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₃emh₃- ‘to grab, to grasp, to seize, to take hold,…’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₃emh₃-1‘to grab, to grasp, to seize, to take hold, tackle, touch’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*amāō1‘to get hold of’reconstructed
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEamō1‘to love’
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEamīcus1‘friend’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEinimicus2‘unfriendly, hostile, inimical’
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1664inimicous2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin inimicus
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English inimicous
  3. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1664, John Evelyn, Sylva: “Hemlock and Rue are said to be inimicous”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₃emh₃-Wiktionary, Latin inimicus‘to grab, to grasp, to seize, to take hold, tackle, touch’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*amāōWiktionary, Latin inimicus‘to get hold of’reconstructed
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEamōWiktionary, Latin inimicus‘to love’
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEamīcusWiktionary, Latin inimicus‘friend’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEinimicusWiktionary, English inimicous‘unfriendly, hostile, inimical’
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1664inimicousWiktionary, English inimicous. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1664, John Evelyn, Sylva: “Hemlock and Rue are said to be inimicous”

Linked words

through Latin amō ‘to love’

amour, amenity, 20 more

through Latin amīcus ‘friend’

amity, amiable, amigo, amicable, 5 more

through Latin inimicus ‘unfriendly, hostile, inimical’

enemy, enmity, 3 more

Today it means

adj —

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “inimicous”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Latin inimicus. 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 *h₃emh₃- / inimicous

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