Etymograph

English

intercession

Intercession comes from Latin intercessiō ‘intervention’, and goes back to cēdō ‘to go’.

  1. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcēdō1‘to go’
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEintercēdō1‘to intervene’
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEintercessiō1‘intervention’
  4. Old Frenchc. 842–1400intercession1
  5. Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600intercession1
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1837intercession1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English intercession
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1837, Letitia Elizabeth Landon, Ethel Churchill: Or: “Lady Marchmont found her companions in no mood for…”.

Earlier history not traced here. See Wiktionary.

Lineage

  1. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcēdōWiktionary, English intercession‘to go’
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEintercēdōWiktionary, English intercession‘to intervene’
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEintercessiōWiktionary, English intercession‘intervention’
  4. Old Frenchc. 842–1400intercessionWiktionary, English intercession
  5. Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600intercessionWiktionary, English intercession
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1837intercessionWiktionary, English intercession. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1837, Letitia Elizabeth Landon, Ethel Churchill: Or: “Lady Marchmont found her companions in no mood for…”

first attested First attested in the early 15th Century (as stated in Wiktionary’s etymology)

The story

First attested in the early 15th Century.

Full etymology on Wiktionary

Linked words

through Latin cēdō ‘to go’

process, success, necessary, procedure, succeed, cease, excess, accessible, precedent, predecessor, concede, recession, recess, concession, cede, accession, cessation, secession, 29 more

Today it means

noun The act of intervening or mediating between two parties.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “intercession”. 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 cēdō / intercession

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