Etymograph

English

renay

Renay comes from Latin negō ‘to deny’, from ne ‘not’, and perhaps ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *né.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*né1‘not’uncertain
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*méh₁1‘prohibitive particle: "don't ...!"’uncertain
  3. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*néh₁1reconstructed
  4. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*nē1‘not’reconstructed
  5. Archaic Latinc. 700–75 BCEnei1
  6. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEne2‘not’
  7. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEnegō3as negare‘to deny’
  8. Old Frenchc. 842–1400reneier3
  9. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500reneye3
  10. Englishearliest quotation 1528renay3

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin ne
  2. 2 Wiktionary, Latin nego
  3. 3 Wiktionary, English renay
  4. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1528, Thomas More, William Rastell]: “[…] Mammolukes and Geniſaries about yͤ Turk and Sowdã…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*néWiktionary, Latin ne‘not’uncertain
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*méh₁Wiktionary, Latin ne‘prohibitive particle: "don't ...!"’uncertain
  3. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*néh₁Wiktionary, Latin nereconstructed
  4. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*nēWiktionary, Latin ne‘not’reconstructed
  5. Archaic Latinc. 700–75 BCEneiWiktionary, Latin ne
  6. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEneWiktionary, Latin nego‘not’
  7. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEnegōWiktionary, English renayas negare‘to deny’
  8. Old Frenchc. 842–1400reneierWiktionary, English renay
  9. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500reneyeWiktionary, English renay
  10. Englishearliest quotation 1528renayWiktionary, English renay. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1528, Thomas More, William Rastell]: “[…] Mammolukes and Geniſaries about yͤ Turk and Sowdã…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *né ‘not’

no, ne, negotiate, na, negotiator, 13 more

through Archaic Latin nei

necessity, 3 more

through Latin negō ‘to deny’

negative, negate, negation, renegade, renege, 4 more

Today it means

verb To renounce (one’s faith or god), to apostasize from.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “renay”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Latin ne, Latin nego. 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 *né / renay

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