English
passionate
Passionate comes from Medieval Latin passiōnātus ‘affected, impassioned, libidinous, easely…’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *peh₁- ‘to hate, hurt’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*peh₁-1‘to hate, hurt’root named by Wiktionary
- Medieval Latinc. 600–1500passiōnātus1‘affected, impassioned, libidinous, easely angered’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500passionat1‘Easily inflamed’
- Englishearliest quotation c. 1590–1591passionate1
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
- 1 Wiktionary, English passionate
- Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: c. 1590–1591, William Shakespeare, The Two Gentlemen of Verona: “Poor, forlorn Proteus, passionate Proteus,”.
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*peh₁-Wiktionary, English passionate‘to hate, hurt’root named by Wiktionary
- Medieval Latinc. 600–1500passiōnātusWiktionary, English passionate‘affected, impassioned, libidinous, easely angered’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500passionatWiktionary, English passionate‘Easily inflamed’
- Englishearliest quotation c. 1590–1591passionateWiktionary, English passionate. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: c. 1590–1591, William Shakespeare, The Two Gentlemen of Verona: “Poor, forlorn Proteus, passionate Proteus,”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *peh₁- ‘to hate, hurt’
patient, patience, compatible, repent, fend, compassion, fiend, penitentiary, penance, penitent, penitence, 11 more
Today it means
adj Given to strong feeling, sometimes romantic, sexual, or both.
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “passionate”. 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 *peh₁- / passionate