Etymograph

English

minatory

Minatory comes from Late Latin minātōrius ‘threatening’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *men- ‘to think, mind’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*men-1‘to think, mind’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*menā1reconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*(eks)menā1reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEminae1‘threats’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEminor2‘threaten’
  6. Late Latinc. 200–600 CEminātōrius3‘threatening’
  7. Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600minatoire3
  8. Englishearliest quotation 1837minatory3

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin minor
  2. 2 Wiktionary, Latin minatorius
  3. 3 Wiktionary, English minatory
  4. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1837, Thomas Carlyle, Usher Maillard: “[…]the Place de Grève, with its thirty thousand Regulars,…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*men-Wiktionary, Latin minor‘to think, mind’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*menāWiktionary, Latin minorreconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*(eks)menāWiktionary, Latin minorreconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEminaeWiktionary, Latin minor‘threats’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEminorWiktionary, Latin minatorius‘threaten’
  6. Late Latinc. 200–600 CEminātōriusWiktionary, English minatory‘threatening’
  7. Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600minatoireWiktionary, English minatory
  8. Englishearliest quotation 1837minatoryWiktionary, English minatory. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1837, Thomas Carlyle, Usher Maillard: “[…]the Place de Grève, with its thirty thousand Regulars,…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *men- ‘to think, mind’

money, music, amount, mind, comment, mental, mouth, mention, museum, remain, permanent, mountain, monster, mount, auto, monitor, monk, monetary, demonstration, monument, min, maya, dementia, monte, amnesty, muse, mosaic, summon, mentor, mas, mantra, mont, mania, mint, muster, monstrous, mandarin, amnesia, monastery, imminent, 121 more

through Latin minor ‘threaten’

minister, minor, menace, amenable, demean, 7 more

Today it means

adj Threatening, menacing.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “minatory”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Latin minor, Latin minatorius. 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 *men- / minatory

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