Etymograph

English

place

Place comes from Middle English place, a conflation of Old English plæċe and Old French place ‘open space’, both from Latin platēa ‘broad way, street’, from Ancient Greek πλατεῖα (ὁδός) ‘broad (way)’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *pleth₂- ‘to spread’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*pleth₂-1‘to spread’reconstructed
  2. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEπλατεῖα1‘broad (way); street’
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEplatēa1‘broad way, street; open space’
  4. Old Frenchc. 842–1400place1‘place, open space’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500place1
  6. Englishearliest quotation c. 1590–1591place1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English place
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: c. 1590–1591, William Shakespeare, The Two Gentlemen of Verona: “Ay, sir, the other squirrel was stolen from me…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*pleth₂-Wiktionary, English place‘to spread’reconstructed
  2. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEπλατεῖαWiktionary, English place‘broad (way); street’
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEplatēaWiktionary, English place‘broad way, street; open space’
  4. Old Frenchc. 842–1400placeWiktionary, English place‘place, open space’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500placeWiktionary, English place
  6. Englishearliest quotation c. 1590–1591placeWiktionary, English place. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: c. 1590–1591, William Shakespeare, The Two Gentlemen of Verona: “Ay, sir, the other squirrel was stolen from me…”

The story

In the etymological chain from Latin platēa, note Old French place, which has multiple descendants — including German Platz, itself with many descendants (e.g., Russian плац (plac)).

Full etymology on Wiktionary

Every English word from Proto-Indo-European *pleth₂-

Another origin of place

  1. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500place
  2. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500placen‘to place or put’
  3. Englishtodayplace

Today it means

noun An open space, particularly a city square, market square, or courtyard.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “place”. 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 *pleth₂- / place

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