Etymograph

English

octroy

Octroy comes from Middle French octroyer, from Old French otroiier ‘to give’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₂ewg- ‘to increase, to enlarge’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₂ewg-1‘to increase, to enlarge’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₂owg-éye-ti1reconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*augejō1reconstructed
  4. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*augeō1‘to increase’reconstructed
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEaugeō2‘to increase, augment, enlarge, spread, expand’
  6. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEauctōrizō3‘to authorize’
  7. Old Frenchc. 842–1400otroiier3‘to give’
  8. Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600octroyer3
  9. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500octroy3‘to octroy’
  10. Englishearliest quotation 1848octroy3

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin augeo
  2. 2 Wiktionary, Latin auctorizo
  3. 3 Wiktionary, English octroy
  4. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1848, Frances Wright, England: “This is only, as usual, making an individual the…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₂ewg-Wiktionary, Latin augeo‘to increase, to enlarge’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₂owg-éye-tiWiktionary, Latin augeoreconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*augejōWiktionary, Latin augeoreconstructed
  4. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*augeōWiktionary, Latin augeo‘to increase’reconstructed
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEaugeōWiktionary, Latin auctorizo‘to increase, augment, enlarge, spread, expand’
  6. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEauctōrizōWiktionary, English octroy‘to authorize’
  7. Old Frenchc. 842–1400otroiierWiktionary, English octroy‘to give’
  8. Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600octroyerWiktionary, English octroy
  9. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500octroyWiktionary, English octroy‘to octroy’
  10. Englishearliest quotation 1848octroyWiktionary, English octroy. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1848, Frances Wright, England: “This is only, as usual, making an individual the…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *h₂ewg- ‘to increase, to enlarge’

august, nickname, authorize, eke, 7 more

through Proto-Italic *augeō ‘to increase’

authority, auxiliary, augmentation, 4 more

through Latin augeō ‘to increase, augment, enlarge, spread, expand’

author, auction, augment, auteur, 5 more

Today it means

verb To grant (a privilege etc, by a government etc).

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “octroy”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Latin augeo, Latin auctorizo. 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 *h₂ewg- / octroy

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