Etymograph

English

prisoner

Prisoner comes from Old French prison, from Latin prehensiō ‘an act of seizing, apprehending, arresting,…’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *gʰed- ‘to find’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*gʰed-1‘to find’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*gʰnédti1reconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*hendō1‘to hold’reconstructed
  4. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*praiɣendō1reconstructed
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEprehendō2‘to seize’
  6. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEprehensiō3as prehensiōnem‘an act of seizing, apprehending, arresting, capturing’
  7. Old Frenchc. 842–1400prison4
  8. Old Frenchc. 842–1400prisonier5
  9. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500prisoner5
  10. Englishearliest quotation c. 1587–1588prisoner5

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin prehendo
  2. 2 Wiktionary, Latin prehensio
  3. 3 Wiktionary, Old French prison
  4. 4 Wiktionary, Old French prisonier
  5. 5 Wiktionary, English prisoner
  6. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: c. 1587–1588, Christopher Marlowe, Tamburlaine the Great. […] The First Part […]: “And gainſt the General we will lift our ſwords…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*gʰed-Wiktionary, Latin prehendo‘to find’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*gʰnédtiWiktionary, Latin prehendoreconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*hendōWiktionary, Latin prehendo‘to hold’reconstructed
  4. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*praiɣendōWiktionary, Latin prehendoreconstructed
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEprehendōWiktionary, Latin prehensio‘to seize’
  6. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEprehensiōWiktionary, Old French prisonas prehensiōnem‘an act of seizing, apprehending, arresting, capturing’
  7. Old Frenchc. 842–1400prisonWiktionary, Old French prisonier
  8. Old Frenchc. 842–1400prisonierWiktionary, English prisoner
  9. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500prisonerWiktionary, English prisoner
  10. Englishearliest quotation c. 1587–1588prisonerWiktionary, English prisoner. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: c. 1587–1588, Christopher Marlowe, Tamburlaine the Great. […] The First Part […]: “And gainſt the General we will lift our ſwords…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *gʰed- ‘to find’

yet, guess, prey, predator, apprehend, predation, reprieve, impregnable, beget, prehensile, 31 more

through Proto-Italic *praiɣendō

impresario, 13 more

through Latin prehendō ‘to seize’

surprise, comprehensive, prize, apprentice, comprehend, comprehension, comprise, apprehensive, reprehensible, apprehension, 13 more

through Old French prison

imprison, 1 more

Today it means

noun A person incarcerated in a prison, while on trial or serving a sentence.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “prisoner”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Latin prehendo, Latin prehensio, Old French prison, Old French prisonier. 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 *gʰed- / prisoner

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