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Progress comes from Old French progres ‘a going forward’, from Latin prōgressus ‘an advance’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *gʰredʰ- ‘to walk, go’.

1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*gʰredʰ-¹‘to walk, go’reconstructed
2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEgradior²‘to step, walk’
3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEprōgredior³‘to go forth, advance’
4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEprōgressus²‘an advance’
5. Old Frenchc. 842–1400progres²‘a going forward’
6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500progresse²
7. Englishearliest quotation 1847progress²

1. ¹ Wiktionary, Latin gradior
2. ² Wiktionary, English progress
3. ³ Wiktionary, Latin progressus
4. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1847, – 1848 July, William Makepeace Thackeray: “... Queen Elizabeth in one of her progresses, stopping…”.