Etymograph

English

procreation

Procreation comes from Latin prōcreātiō ‘generation’, from prōcreāre ‘to bring forth’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ḱer- ‘to grow, become bigger’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ḱer-1‘to grow, become bigger’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ḱreh₁-eh₂yé-ti1reconstructed
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcreō2‘to create’
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEprōcreāre2‘to bring forth’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEprōcreātiō2‘generation’
  6. Old Frenchc. 842–1400procreacion2
  7. Englishtodayprocreation2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin creo
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English procreation

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ḱer-Wiktionary, Latin creo‘to grow, become bigger’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ḱreh₁-eh₂yé-tiWiktionary, Latin creoreconstructed
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcreōWiktionary, English procreation‘to create’
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEprōcreāreWiktionary, English procreation‘to bring forth’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEprōcreātiōWiktionary, English procreation‘generation’
  6. Old Frenchc. 842–1400procreacionWiktionary, English procreation
  7. EnglishtodayprocreationWiktionary, English procreation

first attested First attested in c. 1386 (as stated in Wiktionary’s etymology)

The story

First attested in c. 1386.

Full etymology on Wiktionary

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *ḱer- ‘to grow, become bigger’

increase, crew, increasing, decrease, cereal, crescent, increment, excrement, cru, croissant, kore, accretion, 26 more

through Latin creō ‘to create’

create, creative, creator, creature, recreation, creole, creat, 12 more

Today it means

noun The process by which an organism produces others of its biological kind

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “procreation”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Latin creo. 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 *ḱer- / procreation

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