English
patrimony
Patrimony comes from Latin patrimōnium ‘the estate or assets that are passed from…’, and perhaps goes back to Proto-Indo-European *peh₂- ‘to protect, to ward’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*peh₂-1‘to protect, to ward’uncertain
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ph₂tḗr1‘father’reconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*patēr1‘father’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpater2‘father’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpatrimōnium2‘the estate or assets that are passed from father to son, patrimony’
- Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600patrimoine2
- Englishtodaypatrimony2
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
- 1 Wiktionary, Latin pater
- 2 Wiktionary, English patrimony
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*peh₂-Wiktionary, Latin pater‘to protect, to ward’uncertain
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ph₂tḗrWiktionary, Latin pater‘father’reconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*patērWiktionary, Latin pater‘father’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpaterWiktionary, English patrimony‘father’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpatrimōniumWiktionary, English patrimony‘the estate or assets that are passed from father to son, patrimony’
- Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600patrimoineWiktionary, English patrimony
- EnglishtodaypatrimonyWiktionary, English patrimony
first attested First attested in 1513 (as stated in Wiktionary’s etymology)
The story
First attested in 1513.
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *peh₂- ‘to protect, to ward’
food, company, pain, feed, pope, foster, apparent, fur, pastor, companion, fodder, penetration, fad, pasture, papal, forage, accompaniment, panini, fatherly, pav, patrician, pannier, pantaloons, 57 more
through Proto-Indo-European *ph₂tḗr ‘father’
through Proto-Italic *patēr ‘father’
through Latin pater ‘father’
pattern, papa, perpetrator, patron, paternity, paternal, padre, perpetrate, pater, compere, 17 more
Today it means
noun A right or estate inherited from one's father; or, in a larger sense, from any male ancestor.
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “patrimony”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Latin pater. 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 *peh₂- / patrimony