Etymograph

English

record

Record comes from Middle English recorde, from Old French record, from recorder ‘to register, recall’, from Latin recordor ‘to remember’ (re- + cor ‘heart, mind’).

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ḱerd-1‘heart’reconstructed
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcor1‘heart; mind’
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CErecordor1‘to remember, call to mind’
  4. Old Frenchc. 842–1400recorder1‘to register, to recall’
  5. Old Frenchc. 842–1400record1
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500recorde1
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1952record1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English record
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1952, C. S. Lewis: “But it's far worse for me," said Edmund, "because…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ḱerd-Wiktionary, English record‘heart’reconstructed
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcorWiktionary, English record‘heart; mind’
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CErecordorWiktionary, English record‘to remember, call to mind’
  4. Old Frenchc. 842–1400recorderWiktionary, English record‘to register, to recall’
  5. Old Frenchc. 842–1400recordWiktionary, English record
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500recordeWiktionary, English record
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1952recordWiktionary, English record. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1952, C. S. Lewis: “But it's far worse for me," said Edmund, "because…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *ḱerd- ‘heart’

heart, encourage, courage, cardiac, creed, accord, discord, concord, myocardium, 8 more

Another origin of record

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ḱḗr ~ *ḱr̥d-‘heart’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*kord‘heart’reconstructed
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcor‘heart’
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CErecordārī‘remember, call to mind’
  5. Old Frenchc. 842–1400recorder‘to get by heart’
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500recorden‘to repeat, to report’
  7. Englishtodayrecord

Today it means

noun An item of information put into a temporary or permanent physical medium.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “record”. 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 *ḱerd- / record

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