Etymograph

English

length

Length comes from Middle English lengthe, from Old English lengþ, from Proto-Germanic *langiþō ‘longness’, ultimately from PIE *dlongʰos ‘long’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*dlongʰos1‘long’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*langaz2‘long’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*langiþō3‘longness’reconstructed
  4. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*langiþu3‘longness’reconstructed
  5. Old Englishc. 450–1150lengþ3
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500lengthe3
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1552length3

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Proto-Germanic *langaz
  2. 2 Wiktionary, Proto-Germanic *langiþō
  3. 3 Wiktionary, English length
  4. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1552, Richard Huloet, Ladies of Destinie: “Was never man such favour could off atall ladies…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*dlongʰosWiktionary, Proto-Germanic *langaz‘long’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*langazWiktionary, Proto-Germanic *langiþō‘long’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*langiþōWiktionary, English length‘longness’reconstructed
  4. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*langiþuWiktionary, English length‘longness’reconstructed
  5. Old Englishc. 450–1150lengþWiktionary, English length
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500lengtheWiktionary, English length
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1552lengthWiktionary, English length. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1552, Richard Huloet, Ladies of Destinie: “Was never man such favour could off atall ladies…”

Word family

English words that share an ancestor with length, grouped by the ancestor they share, most familiar first.

through Proto-Indo-European *dlongʰos ‘long’

  • along ← andlang ← lang ← *lang ← *langaz
  • longer ← lenger ← lengra ← *langizô ← *langaz
  • longitudinal ← longitūdō ← longus ← *(d)longos
  • longitude ← longitūdō ← longus ← *(d)longos
  • oblong ← oblongus ← longus ← *(d)longos
  • lunge ← allonge ← alonge ← *allongare ← longare
  • elongate ← elongat ← ēlongātus ← ēlongō ← longus
  • elongation ← elongatio ← elongatus ← ēlongō ← longus
  • longus ← *(d)longos
  • longe ← allonger ← long ← longāre ← longus

through Proto-Germanic *langaz ‘long’

  • long ← lang ← *lang
  • linger ← lengeren ← lenġan ← *langijan ← *langijaną

22 more relatives in the full family tree

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Today it means

noun The distance measured along the longest dimension of an object.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “length”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Proto-Germanic *langaz, Proto-Germanic *langiþō. 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 *dlongʰos / length