Etymograph

English

organ

Organ comes from Latin organum ‘an implement, instrument, tool’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *werǵ- ‘to make’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*werǵ-1‘to make’reconstructed
  2. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEὄργανον1órganon‘an instrument, implement, tool, also an organ of sense or apprehension’
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEorganum1‘an implement, instrument, tool’
  4. Old Frenchc. 842–1400organe1
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500organe1‘a keyboard instrument that produces sound by air moved through pipes’
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1656organ1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English organ
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1656, Thomas Hobbes: “This Organ is called a Thermometer, or Thermoscope, because…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*werǵ-Wiktionary, English organ‘to make’reconstructed
  2. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEὄργανονWiktionary, English organórganon‘an instrument, implement, tool, also an organ of sense or apprehension’
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEorganumWiktionary, English organ‘an implement, instrument, tool’
  4. Old Frenchc. 842–1400organeWiktionary, English organ
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500organeWiktionary, English organ‘a keyboard instrument that produces sound by air moved through pipes’
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1656organWiktionary, English organ. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1656, Thomas Hobbes: “This Organ is called a Thermometer, or Thermoscope, because…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *werǵ- ‘to make’

work, energy, wright, boulevard, energetic, wrought, allergy, liturgy, orgasm, bulwark, metallurgy, werk, argon, irk, irksome, wark, erg, 23 more

Today it means

noun The larger part of an organism, composed of tissues that perform similar functions.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “organ”. 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 *werǵ- / organ

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