Etymograph

English

procession

Procession comes from Latin prōcessiō ‘a marching forward, an advance, in Late Latin…’, and goes back to Proto-Italic *kezdō.

  1. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*kezdō1reconstructed
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcēdō1‘to go, move, proceed, go along, move along’
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEprōcēdō2as prōcēdere‘to proceed, advance’
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEprōcessiō2‘a marching forward, an advance, in Late Latin a religious procession’
  5. Old Frenchc. 842–1400pourciession2
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500processioun2
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1591procession2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin procedo
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English procession
  3. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1591, William Shakespeare, The Second Part of Henry the Sixt, […]: “Here comes the towneſ-men, on Proceſſion, / To preſent…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*kezdōWiktionary, Latin procedoreconstructed
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcēdōWiktionary, Latin procedo‘to go, move, proceed, go along, move along’
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEprōcēdōWiktionary, English processionas prōcēdere‘to proceed, advance’
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEprōcessiōWiktionary, English procession‘a marching forward, an advance, in Late Latin a religious procession’
  5. Old Frenchc. 842–1400pourciessionWiktionary, English procession
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500processiounWiktionary, English procession
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1591processionWiktionary, English procession. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1591, William Shakespeare, The Second Part of Henry the Sixt, […]: “Here comes the towneſ-men, on Proceſſion, / To preſent…”

Linked words

through Proto-Italic *kezdō

successor, excessive, successive, succession, inaccessible, recessive, precession, 10 more

through Latin cēdō ‘to go, move, proceed, go along, move along’

success, necessary, succeed, cease, excess, accessible, precedent, predecessor, concede, recess, concession, cede, accession, cessation, secession, intercession, 30 more

through Latin prōcēdō ‘to proceed, advance’

procedure, 3 more

Today it means

noun The act of progressing or proceeding.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “procession”; 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 / procession

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