Etymograph

English

occident

Occident comes from Old French occident ‘the west’, from Latin occidentem ‘western sky, part of the sky in which the sun…’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ḱad- ‘to fall’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ḱad-1‘to fall’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ḱádeti1reconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*kadō1‘to fall, sink’reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcadō1‘to fall’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEoccido2‘go down, set’
  6. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEoccidentem2‘western sky, part of the sky in which the sun sets’
  7. Old Frenchc. 842–1400occident2‘the west’
  8. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500occident2
  9. Englishtodayoccident2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin occido
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English occident

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ḱad-Wiktionary, Latin occido‘to fall’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ḱádetiWiktionary, Latin occidoreconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*kadōWiktionary, Latin occido‘to fall, sink’reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcadōWiktionary, Latin occido‘to fall’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEoccidoWiktionary, English occident‘go down, set’
  6. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEoccidentemWiktionary, English occident‘western sky, part of the sky in which the sun sets’
  7. Old Frenchc. 842–1400occidentWiktionary, English occident‘the west’
  8. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500occidentWiktionary, English occident
  9. EnglishtodayoccidentWiktionary, English occident

Linked words

through Latin cadō ‘to fall’

case, chance, cheat, occasion, incident, accident, decay, casualty, coincide, incidence, cadence, cadaver, deciduous, decadent, recidivism, 16 more

Today it means

noun The part of the horizon where the sun last appears in the evening; that part of the earth towards the sunset; the west.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “occident”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Latin occido. 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 *ḱad- / occident

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