Etymograph

English

iter

Iter comes from Latin iter ‘passage’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *h₁ey- ‘to go’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₁ey-1‘to go’root named by Wiktionary
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEiter1‘passage’
  3. Englishearliest quotation 1916iter1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English iter
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1916, o Clinic, Collected Papers of the Mayo Clinic and the Mayo Foundation: “This fluid passes through the main iters which connect…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₁ey-Wiktionary, English iter‘to go’root named by Wiktionary
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEiterWiktionary, English iter‘passage’
  3. Englishearliest quotation 1916iterWiktionary, English iter. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1916, o Clinic, Collected Papers of the Mayo Clinic and the Mayo Foundation: “This fluid passes through the main iters which connect…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *h₁ey- ‘to go’

initial, transition, ion, initiative, ambitious, ambition, ambient, initiation, initiate, eid, isthmus, sedition, cation, ambiance, initiator, anionic, ambit, 24 more

through Latin iter ‘passage’

eyre, itinerary, itinerant, 3 more

Today it means

noun A passage, especially the passage between the third and fourth ventricles in the brain; the cerebral aqueduct.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “iter”. 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 *h₁ey- / iter

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