Etymograph

English

preclude

Preclude comes from Latin praeclūdere, from claudō ‘to shut up, close, lock’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *kleh₂w-.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*kleh₂w-1‘to close something’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*klaudō1‘to close’reconstructed
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEclaudō1‘to shut up, close, lock’
  4. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEpraeclūdere1
  5. Englishearliest quotation 1837preclude1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English preclude
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1837, Letitia Elizabeth Landon, The Influence of an Invitation: “Now, own the truth,—are you not very sorry that…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*kleh₂w-Wiktionary, English preclude‘to close something’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*klaudōWiktionary, English preclude‘to close’reconstructed
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEclaudōWiktionary, English preclude‘to shut up, close, lock’
  4. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEpraeclūdereWiktionary, English preclude
  5. Englishearliest quotation 1837precludeWiktionary, English preclude. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1837, Letitia Elizabeth Landon, The Influence of an Invitation: “Now, own the truth,—are you not very sorry that…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *kleh₂w- ‘to close something’

include, cataract, conclave, subclavian, 28 more

through Proto-Italic *klaudō ‘to close’

closet, disclose, enclose, inclusiveness, 26 more

through Latin claudō ‘to shut up, close, lock’

close, exclusive, conclusion, clause, closure, inclusion, inclusive, conclude, exclude, cloister, claustrophobia, occlusion, sluice, recluse, cloture, 31 more

Today it means

verb To remove the possibility of; to rule out; to prevent or exclude; to render impossible.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “preclude”. 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 *kleh₂w- / preclude

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