English
process
Process comes from Middle English proces, from Old French procés ‘journey’, from Latin prōcessus ‘course’, from cēdō, from Proto-Italic *kezdō.
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*kezdō1reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcēdō1‘to go’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEprōcēdō2‘proceed’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEprōcessus2‘course’nominalization of prōcēdō
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400procés2‘journey’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500proces2
- Englishearliest quotation 1711process2
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
- 1 Wiktionary, Latin procedo
- 2 Wiktionary, English process
- Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1711, John Spotiswood, The Form of Process: “But if either at Calling by the Clerk, after…”.
Lineage
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*kezdōWiktionary, Latin procedoreconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcēdōWiktionary, Latin procedo‘to go’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEprōcēdōWiktionary, English process‘proceed’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEprōcessusWiktionary, English process‘course’nominalization of prōcēdō
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400procésWiktionary, English process‘journey’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500procesWiktionary, English process
- Englishearliest quotation 1711processWiktionary, English process. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1711, John Spotiswood, The Form of Process: “But if either at Calling by the Clerk, after…”
Word family
English words that share an ancestor with process, grouped by the ancestor they share, most familiar first.
through Proto-Italic *kezdō
- succession ← successiō ← succēdō ← cēdō
- successor ← successour ← succēdō ← cēdō
- successive ← succēdō ← cēdō
- inaccessible ← inaccessibilis ← accessibilis ← accessus ← accēdō
- recessive ← recēdō ← cēdō
- precession ← precessioun ← prēcessiōn- ← praecēdō ← cēdō
through Latin cēdō ‘to go, move, proceed, go along, move along’
52 more relatives in the full family tree
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Today it means
noun A series of events leading to a result or product.
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “process”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Latin procedo. 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-Italic *kezdō / process