Etymograph

English

kudos

Kudos comes from Ancient Greek κῦδος ‘praise, renown’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *(s)kewh₁- ‘to perceive, pay attention’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*(s)kewh₁-1‘to perceive, pay attention’reconstructed
  2. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEκῦδος2kûdos‘praise, renown’
  3. Englishearliest quotation 1920kudos2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Ancient Greek κῦδος, which cites Beekes
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English kudos
  3. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1920, Agatha Christie: “Well, I will tell you this. Use your warrant:…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*(s)kewh₁-Wiktionary, Ancient Greek κῦδος, which cites Beekes‘to perceive, pay attention’reconstructed
  2. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEκῦδοςWiktionary, English kudoskûdos‘praise, renown’
  3. Englishearliest quotation 1920kudosWiktionary, English kudos. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1920, Agatha Christie: “Well, I will tell you this. Use your warrant:…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *(s)kewh₁- ‘to perceive, pay attention’

show, cave, precaution, sheen, scone, 13 more

Today it means

noun Praise; accolades.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “kudos”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Ancient Greek κῦδος. 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 *(s)kewh₁- / kudos

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