Etymograph

English

push

Push comes from Middle English pushen, from Middle French pousser, from Latin pulsō ‘to push, beat’, from pellō ‘to drive’, perhaps ultimately from PIE *pel-.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*pel-1‘to drive, strike, thrust’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*pelnō1uncertain
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpellō1‘to push, drive; to strike’
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpulsō1as pulsare‘to push, strike, beat’
  5. Old Frenchc. 842–1400poulser1
  6. Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600pousser1
  7. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500pushen1
  8. Englishearliest quotation 1611push1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English push
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1611, The Holy Bible, London: […] Robert Barker: “If the ox shall push a manservant or maidservant,…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*pel-Wiktionary, English push‘to drive, strike, thrust’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*pelnōWiktionary, English pushuncertain
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpellōWiktionary, English push‘to push, drive; to strike’
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpulsōWiktionary, English pushas pulsare‘to push, strike, beat’
  5. Old Frenchc. 842–1400poulserWiktionary, English push
  6. Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600pousserWiktionary, English push
  7. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500pushenWiktionary, English push
  8. Englishearliest quotation 1611pushWiktionary, English push. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1611, The Holy Bible, London: […] Robert Barker: “If the ox shall push a manservant or maidservant,…”

The story

Partly displaced native Old English sċūfan, whence Modern English shove.

Full etymology on Wiktionary

Word family

English words that share an ancestor with push, grouped by the ancestor they share, most familiar first.

through Proto-Indo-European *pel-

  • film ← filme ← filmen ← *filmīn- ← *filmīn-
  • felt ← *pilto
  • simple ← symple ← simplus ← *sem-
  • simply ← symply ← symple ← simple ← simplus
  • filter ← filtre ← filtrum ← *felt ← *fellą
  • powder ← poudre ← poudre ← pulverem ← pulvis
  • complain ← complaynen ← complaindre ← complangere ← plangere
  • fold ← folden ← fealdan ← *falþan ← *falþaną
  • pillow ← pilwe ← pyle ← *pulwī ← pulvīnus
  • repeal ← repeler ← rapeler ← repellō ← pellō
  • flaw ← *flaugh ← vlāghe ← *flagā ← *flagǭ
  • pollen

92 more relatives in the full family tree

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Today it means

verb To apply a force to (an object) such that it moves away from the person or thing applying the force.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “push”. 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 *pel- / push