Etymograph

English

profundity

Profundity comes from Latin profunditās ‘depth’, from profundus ‘deep, profound’, and perhaps ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *dʰewbʰ- ‘to sink in’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*dʰewbʰ-1‘to sink in’uncertain
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*bʰudʰmḗn1‘bottom’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*bʰudʰnós1reconstructed
  4. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*bʰundʰós1reconstructed
  5. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*fundos1reconstructed
  6. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEfundus2‘bottom’
  7. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEprofundus3‘deep, profound’
  8. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEprofunditās4‘depth’
  9. Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600profondite4uncertain
  10. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500profundite4
  11. Englishearliest quotation 1816profundity4

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin fundus
  2. 2 Wiktionary, Latin profundus
  3. 3 Wiktionary, Latin profunditas
  4. 4 Wiktionary, English profundity
  5. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1816, Walter Scott, Hurst: “[A] sharp-looking old dame, […] inhabited a "laigh [low]…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*dʰewbʰ-Wiktionary, Latin fundus‘to sink in’uncertain
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*bʰudʰmḗnWiktionary, Latin fundus‘bottom’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*bʰudʰnósWiktionary, Latin fundusreconstructed
  4. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*bʰundʰósWiktionary, Latin fundusreconstructed
  5. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*fundosWiktionary, Latin fundusreconstructed
  6. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEfundusWiktionary, Latin profundus‘bottom’
  7. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEprofundusWiktionary, Latin profunditas‘deep, profound’
  8. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEprofunditāsWiktionary, English profundity‘depth’
  9. Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600profonditeWiktionary, English profundityuncertain
  10. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500profunditeWiktionary, English profundity
  11. Englishearliest quotation 1816profundityWiktionary, English profundity. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1816, Walter Scott, Hurst: “[A] sharp-looking old dame, […] inhabited a "laigh [low]…”

Equivalent to profound + ity

Latin profundus ‘deep, profound’

Old French profont ‘deep (of a liquid)’

Anglo-Norman profound

Middle English profound

English profound

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *dʰewbʰ- ‘to sink in’

deep, depth, dumb, dave, deaf, dip, dove, dub, bottomless, typhus, doof, 18 more

through Proto-Indo-European *bʰudʰmḗn ‘bottom’

bottom, bot, bourne, 12 more

through Proto-Indo-European *bʰudʰnós

butte, 8 more

through Proto-Italic *fundos

fundamental, fonds, fundus, 8 more

through Latin fundus ‘bottom’

foundation, fund, founder, honda, fond, 11 more

through Latin profundus ‘deep, profound’

profound, 5 more

Today it means

noun The state of being profound; magnitude, gravity, or intensity.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “profundity”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Latin fundus, Latin profundus, Latin profunditas. 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 *dʰewbʰ- / profundity

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