Etymograph

English

quarantine

Quarantine comes from Medieval Latin quarentena ‘40-day period’, from Latin quadrāgintā ‘forty’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *kʷétwr̥dḱomth₂ ‘forty’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*kʷétwr̥dḱomth₂1‘forty’reconstructed
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEquadrāgintā1‘forty’
  3. Late Latinc. 200–600 CE*quaranta1‘forty’uncertain
  4. Medieval Latinc. 600–1500quarentena1‘40-day period’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500quarentine1
  6. Englishearliest quotation c. 1470quarantine1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English quarantine
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: c. 1470, William Wey, The Itineraries: “By yonde ys a wyldernys of quarentyne, Wher Cryst…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*kʷétwr̥dḱomth₂Wiktionary, English quarantine‘forty’reconstructed
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEquadrāgintāWiktionary, English quarantine‘forty’
  3. Late Latinc. 200–600 CE*quarantaWiktionary, English quarantine‘forty’uncertain
  4. Medieval Latinc. 600–1500quarentenaWiktionary, English quarantine‘40-day period’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500quarentineWiktionary, English quarantine
  6. Englishearliest quotation c. 1470quarantineWiktionary, English quarantine. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: c. 1470, William Wey, The Itineraries: “By yonde ys a wyldernys of quarentyne, Wher Cryst…”

The story

In reference to a severance of political relations, popularized by the Roosevelt administration's 1937 approach to the Axis powers and the later Kennedy administration's 1962 approach to Cuba during the missile crisis.

Full etymology on Wiktionary

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Today it means

noun A period of 40 days, particularly

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “quarantine”. 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 *kʷétwr̥dḱomth₂ / quarantine