Etymograph

English

price

Price comes from Middle English price, from Old French pris, from Latin pretium ‘worth, price’, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *per- ‘in front’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*per-1‘in front’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*pr-é-ti ~ *pr-ó-ti1reconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*pretjom1reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpretium2‘worth’
  5. Old Frenchc. 842–1400pris2
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500price2‘price’
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1590price2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin pretium
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English price
  3. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1590, Edmund Spenser, Book I, Canto IX: “Thou damned wight, / The author of this fact,…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*per-Wiktionary, Latin pretium‘in front’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*pr-é-ti ~ *pr-ó-tiWiktionary, Latin pretiumreconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*pretjomWiktionary, Latin pretiumreconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpretiumWiktionary, English price‘worth’
  5. Old Frenchc. 842–1400prisWiktionary, English price
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500priceWiktionary, English price‘price’
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1590priceWiktionary, English price. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1590, Edmund Spenser, Book I, Canto IX: “Thou damned wight, / The author of this fact,…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *per- ‘in front’

first, before, support, far, per, report, further, fear, opportunity, press, port, private, afford, appreciate, pre, ford, practice, forth, primary, pregnant, prior, prime, parade, par, practical, interpretation, ferry, pirate, fare, porch, pardon, privilege, primitive, afar, interpreter, pore, petra, disparate, firth, proton, 150 more

through Proto-Italic *pretjom

appraise

through Latin pretium ‘worth, price, money spent, wages, reward’

precious, praise, depreciation, 1 more

through Old French pris

prize, prix

Today it means

noun The cost required to gain possession of something.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “price”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Latin pretium. 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- / price

Shirt and support for this word