Etymograph

English

jejunation

Jejunation comes from Latin ieiūnātiō ‘fasting’, from ieiūnō ‘to fast’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₁yaǵ- ‘to sacrifice’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₁yaǵ-1‘to sacrifice’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₁yaǵ-yu-s1reconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*jagjūnos1reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEieiūnus2‘fasting, abstinent, hungry’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEieiūnō2‘to fast’
  6. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEieiūnātiō3‘fasting’
  7. Englishtodayjejunation3

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin ieiunus
  2. 2 Wiktionary, Latin ieiunatio
  3. 3 Wiktionary, English jejunation

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₁yaǵ-Wiktionary, Latin ieiunus‘to sacrifice’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₁yaǵ-yu-sWiktionary, Latin ieiunusreconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*jagjūnosWiktionary, Latin ieiunusreconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEieiūnusWiktionary, Latin ieiunatio‘fasting, abstinent, hungry’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEieiūnōWiktionary, Latin ieiunatio‘to fast’
  6. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEieiūnātiōWiktionary, English jejunation‘fasting’
  7. EnglishtodayjejunationWiktionary, English jejunation

Linked words

through Latin ieiūnus ‘fasting, abstinent, hungry’

dine, 2 more

through Latin ieiūnō ‘to fast’

dinner

Today it means

noun fasting

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “jejunation”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Latin ieiunus, Latin ieiunatio. 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 *h₁yaǵ- / jejunation

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