English
president
President comes from Latin praesidēns ‘presiding over’, and goes back to praesideō.
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpraesideō1‘preside over’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpraesidēns2‘presiding over’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400president2
- Englishearliest quotation 1671president2
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
- 1 Wiktionary, Latin praesidens
- 2 Wiktionary, English president
- Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1671, John Milton, The First Book: “His angels president / In every province.”.
Lineage
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpraesideōWiktionary, Latin praesidens‘preside over’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpraesidēnsWiktionary, English president‘presiding over’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400presidentWiktionary, English president
- Englishearliest quotation 1671presidentWiktionary, English president. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1671, John Milton, The First Book: “His angels president / In every province.”
The story
The Latin word is the substantivized present active participle of the verb praesideō (‘preside over’).
Word family
English words that share an ancestor with president, grouped by the ancestor they share, most familiar first.
through Proto-Indo-European *sed- ‘to sit’
- set ← setten ← settan ← *sattjan ← *satjaną
- sell ← selle ← selle ← sele ← sella
- seat ← sete ← sǣte ← sæti ← *sētiją
- method ← methode ← methodus ← μέθοδος ← ὁδός
- chair ← chayere ← chaiere ← cathedra ← κᾰθέδρᾱ
- sitting ← sittinge ← sittende ← *sitjandz ← *sitjaną
- sit ← sitten ← sittan ← *sittjan ← *sitjaną
- settle ← setl ← *setlaz ← *sed-lo-
- nest ← *nestą ← *nisdós
- niche ← *nīdicāre ← nīdus ← *nizdos ← *nisdós
- possess ← possessen ← possesser ← possessus ← *pótis
- saddle ← sadel ← sadol ← *sadul ← *sadulaz
180 more relatives in the full family tree
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Today it means
noun The head of state of a republic, sometimes also the head of government as well, particularly (US politics) the head of the executive branch of the federal government of the United States of America.
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “president”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Latin praesidens. 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 / Latin praesideō / president