Etymograph

English

religate

Religate comes from Latin religātus ‘bound fast, having been bound fast’, from religō ‘to bind back or behind’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *leyǵ-.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*leyǵ-1‘to bind, tie’reconstructed
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEligō1‘to tie, bind’
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEreligō2‘to bind back or behind’
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEreligātus2‘bound fast, having been bound fast’perfect passive participle of religō
  5. Englishtodayreligate2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin religo
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English religate

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*leyǵ-Wiktionary, Latin religo‘to bind, tie’reconstructed
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEligōWiktionary, Latin religo‘to tie, bind’
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEreligōWiktionary, English religate‘to bind back or behind’
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEreligātusWiktionary, English religate‘bound fast, having been bound fast’perfect passive participle of religō
  5. EnglishtodayreligateWiktionary, English religate

Formed from re- + ligate

Proto-Italic *wre- ‘again’

English re-

Latin ligō ‘to bind’

Latin ligātus ‘connected, tied, bound, having been connected’

English ligate

The story

Partly from Latin religātus, the perfect passive participle of religō (‘to bind back or behind’) and partly formed in English as re- + ligate.

Full etymology on Wiktionary

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *leyǵ- ‘to bind, tie’

obligation, oblige, 14 more

through Latin ligō ‘to tie, bind’

league, ally, liable, alloy, liaison, lien, ligament, ligand, liaise, ligature, legato, ligation, obligate, 15 more

through Latin religō ‘to bind back or behind’

rely, 5 more

Today it means

verb To ligate again.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “religate”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Latin religo. 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 *leyǵ- / religate

Shirt and support for this word