Etymograph

English

parson

Parson comes from Middle English persoun ‘person’, from Latin sonō ‘make a noise, sound, resound’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *swenh₂-.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*swenh₂-1‘to sound’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*swonh₂éyeti1reconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*swonaō1‘to sound, resound’reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEsonō1‘make a noise, sound, resound’
  5. Medieval Latinc. 600–1500personō2as persona‘parson, person’
  6. Old Frenchc. 842–1400persone2‘parson, person’
  7. Anglo-Normanc. 1066–1400persoune3
  8. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500persoun2‘person’
  9. Englishearliest quotation c. 1503–1512parson2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin persono
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English parson
  3. 3 Wiktionary, Middle English persoun
  4. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: c. 1503–1512, John Skelton, Ware the Hauke; republished in John Scattergood: “a lewde curate, A parson benyfyced But nothynge well…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*swenh₂-Wiktionary, Latin persono‘to sound’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*swonh₂éyetiWiktionary, Latin personoreconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*swonaōWiktionary, Latin persono‘to sound, resound’reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEsonōWiktionary, Latin persono‘make a noise, sound, resound’
  5. Medieval Latinc. 600–1500personōWiktionary, English parsonas persona‘parson, person’
  6. Old Frenchc. 842–1400personeWiktionary, English parson‘parson, person’
  7. Anglo-Normanc. 1066–1400persouneWiktionary, Middle English persoun
  8. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500persounWiktionary, English parson‘person’
  9. Englishearliest quotation c. 1503–1512parsonWiktionary, English parson. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: c. 1503–1512, John Skelton, Ware the Hauke; republished in John Scattergood: “a lewde curate, A parson benyfyced But nothynge well…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *swenh₂- ‘to sound’

sound, swan, unison, sonnet, sone, 10 more

through Latin sonō ‘make a noise, sound, resound’

re, resonance, resonate, resonant, impersonal, resound, sonorous, consonance, 6 more

through Medieval Latin personō ‘parson, person’

personal, personnel, 3 more

through Middle English persoun ‘person’

person, 1 more

Today it means

noun An Anglican cleric having full legal control of a parish under ecclesiastical law.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “parson”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Latin persono, Middle English persoun. 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 *swenh₂- / parson

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