English
petra
Petra comes from Latin petra ‘rock’, and perhaps goes back to Proto-Indo-European *per- ‘to go through, fare’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*per-1‘to go through, fare’uncertain
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEπέτρα2‘rock’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpetra3‘rock’
- Englishearliest quotation 1882petra3
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
- 1 Wiktionary, Ancient Greek πέτρα, which cites Beekes
- 2 Wiktionary, Latin petra
- 3 Wiktionary, English petra
- Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1882, James Edwin Thorold Rogers, A History of Agriculture and Prices in England: “Generally, however, the stone or petra, almost always of…”.
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*per-Wiktionary, Ancient Greek πέτρα, which cites Beekes‘to go through, fare’uncertain
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEπέτραWiktionary, Latin petra‘rock’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpetraWiktionary, English petra‘rock’
- Englishearliest quotation 1882petraWiktionary, English petra. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1882, James Edwin Thorold Rogers, A History of Agriculture and Prices in England: “Generally, however, the stone or petra, almost always of…”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *per- ‘to go through, fare’
first, before, support, far, report, further, price, private, press, per, fear, opportunity, pre, primary, prior, practice, prime, appreciate, port, prize, afford, pregnant, ford, forth, precious, practical, privilege, par, interpretation, praise, ferry, fare, parade, porch, pardon, primitive, prix, pirate, privy, prism, 155 more
through Latin petra ‘rock’
Today it means
noun stone, a weight equal to 14 pounds.
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “petra”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Ancient Greek πέτρα, Latin petra. 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 *per- / petra