English
remord
Remord comes from Latin remordeō ‘to bite back or again’, and perhaps goes back to Proto-Indo-European *wre-.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*wre-1‘back’uncertain
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*wre-2‘again’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEremordeō3‘to bite back or again’
- Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600remordre4
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500remorden3‘to cause remorse’
- Englishearliest quotation a. 1529remord3
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
- 1 Wiktionary, Proto-Italic *wre-
- 2 Wiktionary, Latin re-, which cites OED
- 3 Wiktionary, English remord
- 4 Wiktionary, Middle English remorden
- Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: a. 1529, John Skelton: “Dyvers People That Remord This Rymyng Agaynst the Scot”.
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*wre-Wiktionary, Proto-Italic *wre-‘back’uncertain
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*wre-Wiktionary, Latin re-, which cites OED‘again’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEremordeōWiktionary, English remord‘to bite back or again’
- Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600remordreWiktionary, Middle English remorden
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500remordenWiktionary, English remord‘to cause remorse’
- Englishearliest quotation a. 1529remordWiktionary, English remord. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: a. 1529, John Skelton: “Dyvers People That Remord This Rymyng Agaynst the Scot”
Linked words
through Proto-Italic *wre- ‘again’
require, rescue, reverse, rely, reminiscent, remark, reciprocal, revoke, repellent, reciprocate, refrigerate, repulse, rappel, regurgitate, 14 more
Today it means
verb To feel remorse.
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “remord”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Proto-Italic *wre-, Latin re-, Middle English remorden. 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 *wre- / remord