Etymograph

English

lingua

Lingua comes from Latin lingua ‘the tongue’, from dingua ‘pre-classical form of lingua’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *dn̥ǵʰwéh₂s ‘tongue’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*dn̥ǵʰwéh₂s1‘tongue’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*dn̥ɣwā1‘tongue’reconstructed
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEdingua1‘pre-classical form of lingua’
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CElingua1‘the tongue’
  5. Englishearliest quotation 2009lingua1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English lingua
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 2009, Alex J. Packer, Wise Highs: How to Thrill: “Let your lingua loiter on its salty, hard surface.…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*dn̥ǵʰwéh₂sWiktionary, English lingua‘tongue’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*dn̥ɣwāWiktionary, English lingua‘tongue’reconstructed
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEdinguaWiktionary, English lingua‘pre-classical form of lingua’
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CElinguaWiktionary, English lingua‘the tongue’
  5. Englishearliest quotation 2009linguaWiktionary, English lingua. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 2009, Alex J. Packer, Wise Highs: How to Thrill: “Let your lingua loiter on its salty, hard surface.…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *dn̥ǵʰwéh₂s ‘tongue’

tongue, tung, 24 more

through Latin dingua ‘pre-classical form of lingua’

langue, 24 more

through Latin lingua ‘the tongue’

language, lang, bilingual, lingo, sublingual, 25 more

Today it means

noun Synonym of tongue.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “lingua”. 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 *dn̥ǵʰwéh₂s / lingua

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