Etymograph

English

pendulous

Pendulous comes from Latin pendulus ‘pendant’, from pendeō ‘to hang’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *(s)pn̥d-éh₁ye-ti.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*(s)pn̥d-éh₁ye-ti1sreconstructed
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*pendēō1‘to hang, to be hanging’reconstructed
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpendeō2‘to hang’
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpendulus2‘pendant’
  5. Englishearliest quotation 1981pendulous2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin pendeo
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English pendulous
  3. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1981, William Irwin Thompson, The Time Falling Bodies Take to Light: Mythology: “The prehistorian Andre Leroi-Gourhan has identified it as "a…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*(s)pn̥d-éh₁ye-tiWiktionary, Latin pendeosreconstructed
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*pendēōWiktionary, Latin pendeo‘to hang, to be hanging’reconstructed
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpendeōWiktionary, English pendulous‘to hang’
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpendulusWiktionary, English pendulous‘pendant’
  5. Englishearliest quotation 1981pendulousWiktionary, English pendulous. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1981, William Irwin Thompson, The Time Falling Bodies Take to Light: Mythology: “The prehistorian Andre Leroi-Gourhan has identified it as "a…”

Linked words

through Latin pendeō ‘to hang’

depend, 4 more

Today it means

adj Hanging from, or as if from, a support.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “pendulous”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Latin pendeo. 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 *(s)pn̥d-éh₁ye-ti / pendulous

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