Etymograph

English

remunerate

Remunerate comes from Latin remūnerō ‘to reward’, from mūnus ‘gift’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *mey- ‘to attach, bind, strengthen’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*mey-1‘to attach, bind, strengthen’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*moy-nós1reconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*moinos1‘service’reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEmūnus2‘gift’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEremūnerō2‘to reward’
  6. Englishearliest quotation 2025remunerate2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin munus
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English remunerate
  3. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 2025, James Osborne: “For all their toughness, Roman soldiers were poorly remunerated.…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*mey-Wiktionary, Latin munus‘to attach, bind, strengthen’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*moy-nósWiktionary, Latin munusreconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*moinosWiktionary, Latin munus‘service’reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEmūnusWiktionary, English remunerate‘gift’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEremūnerōWiktionary, English remunerate‘to reward’
  6. Englishearliest quotation 2025remunerateWiktionary, English remunerate. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 2025, James Osborne: “For all their toughness, Roman soldiers were poorly remunerated.…”

The story

Unrelated to money.

Full etymology on Wiktionary

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *mey- ‘to attach, bind, strengthen’

mean, common, met, community, commission, minute, minister, ministry, minor, mess, meal, min, communication, commit, menu, compromise, missile, mutual, communist, minus, dismiss, mere, communicate, mole, ammunition, communism, premise, ammo, noodle, communal, moor, communion, mayhem, intermittent, mural, omit, mite, commune, monolith, minstrel, 74 more

through Latin mūnus ‘gift’

immune, immunity, municipality, 4 more

Today it means

verb To compensate; to pay.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “remunerate”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Latin munus. 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 *mey- / remunerate

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