Etymograph

English

intrinsic

Intrinsic comes from Latin intrīnsecus ‘on the inside, inwardly’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *sekʷ- ‘to follow’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*sekʷ-1‘to follow’root named by Wiktionary
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEintrīnsecus1‘on the inside, inwardly’
  3. Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600intrinsèque1
  4. Englishearliest quotation 1832intrinsic1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English intrinsic
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1832, Isaac Taylor, Saturday Evening. […]: “He was better qualified than they to estimate justly…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*sekʷ-Wiktionary, English intrinsic‘to follow’root named by Wiktionary
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEintrīnsecusWiktionary, English intrinsic‘on the inside, inwardly’
  3. Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600intrinsèqueWiktionary, English intrinsic
  4. Englishearliest quotation 1832intrinsicWiktionary, English intrinsic. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1832, Isaac Taylor, Saturday Evening. […]: “He was better qualified than they to estimate justly…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *sekʷ- ‘to follow’

see, say, second, social, saw, society, executive, suit, associate, sequence, sight, pursue, subsequent, sue, prosecution, consecutive, sequel, execute, saga, persecution, consequently, sect, sequential, executor, dissociation, sequestration, persecute, consequent, ensue, segue, sequester, dissociate, seg, sequitur, extrinsic, 34 more

Today it means

adj Innate, inherent, inseparable from the thing itself, essential.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “intrinsic”. 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 *sekʷ- / intrinsic

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