Etymograph

English

profusion

Profusion comes from Late Latin profusio ‘a pouring out’, from Latin profundō ‘to pour forth, to lavish’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰewd-.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ǵʰewd-1‘to pour’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ǵʰunédti1reconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*hundō1‘to pour out’reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEfundō2‘pour’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEprofundō3‘to pour forth, to lavish’
  6. Late Latinc. 200–600 CEprofusio4‘a pouring out’
  7. Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600profusion4
  8. Englishearliest quotation 1918profusion4

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin fundo
  2. 2 Wiktionary, Latin profundo
  3. 3 Wiktionary, Latin profusio
  4. 4 Wiktionary, English profusion
  5. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1918, –November, The Land That Time Forgot: “We set the men at work felling trees, selecting…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ǵʰewd-Wiktionary, Latin fundo‘to pour’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ǵʰunédtiWiktionary, Latin fundoreconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*hundōWiktionary, Latin fundo‘to pour out’reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEfundōWiktionary, Latin profundo‘pour’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEprofundōWiktionary, Latin profusio‘to pour forth, to lavish’
  6. Late Latinc. 200–600 CEprofusioWiktionary, English profusion‘a pouring out’
  7. Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600profusionWiktionary, English profusion
  8. Englishearliest quotation 1918profusionWiktionary, English profusion. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1918, –November, The Land That Time Forgot: “We set the men at work felling trees, selecting…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰewd- ‘to pour’

yet, refuse, gut, font, fuse, effusive, 40 more

through Proto-Italic *hundō ‘to pour out’

confused, foundry, fondue, 36 more

through Latin fundō ‘pour’

foundation, founder, fundamental, refund, confusion, funnel, confuse, diffuse, diffusion, confound, infusion, infuse, perfusion, effusion, 42 more

Today it means

noun abundance; the state of being profuse; a cornucopia

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “profusion”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Latin fundo, Latin profundo, Latin profusio. 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 *ǵʰewd- / profusion

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