Etymograph

English

moderate

Moderate comes from Middle English moderat ‘moderate, temperate’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *med- ‘to measure’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*med-1‘to measure’root named by Wiktionary · steps between not traced
  2. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500moderat1‘moderate, temperate’
  3. Englishearliest quotation 1731moderate1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English moderate
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1731, Jonathan Swift: “A number of moderate members managed […] to obtain…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*med-Wiktionary, English moderate‘to measure’root named by Wiktionary · steps between not traced
  2. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500moderatWiktionary, English moderate‘moderate, temperate’
  3. Englishearliest quotation 1731moderateWiktionary, English moderate. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1731, Jonathan Swift: “A number of moderate members managed […] to obtain…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *med- ‘to measure’

must, medical, medicine, model, mud, medication, mood, med, remedy, meditation, mold, medicinal, module, blackmail, modest, medic, modification, mould, meditate, modulation, modal, modus, modulus, modicum, mete, mote, modulate, modifiable, modulo, commode, 29 more

Another origin of moderate

  1. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEmoderātus‘mitigated, managed, controlled, moderated’
  2. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500moderat
  3. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500moderaten‘to restrain, curb’
  4. Englishtodaymoderate

Today it means

adj Not excessive; acting in moderation.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “moderate”. 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 *med- / moderate

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