Etymograph

English

jejune

Jejune comes from Latin iēiūnus ‘fasting’, and goes back to 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 CEiēiūnus2‘fasting’
  5. Englishearliest quotation 1702jejune2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin ieiunus
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English jejune
  3. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1702, Thomas Brown: “I have often wondered why some late Writers should…”.

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 CEiēiūnusWiktionary, English jejune‘fasting’
  5. Englishearliest quotation 1702jejuneWiktionary, English jejune. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1702, Thomas Brown: “I have often wondered why some late Writers should…”

Linked words

through Latin iēiūnus ‘fasting’

dinner, dine, 2 more

Today it means

adj Not nutritious.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “jejune”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Latin ieiunus. 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- / jejune

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