English
rent
Rent comes from Old French rente ‘income’, from Medieval Latin rendita, from Latin reddō ‘to give back’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *deh₃- ‘to give’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*deh₃-1‘give’reconstructed
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*dédeh₃ti1‘to be giving’reconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*didō1‘to give’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEdō2‘give’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEreddō3as reddere‘to give back’
- Late Latinc. 200–600 CErendere3
- Early Medieval Latinmodernrendita3
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400rente3‘income’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500rent3‘rent: income’
- Englishearliest quotation 1733–1737rent3
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
- 1 Wiktionary, Latin do
- 2 Wiktionary, Latin reddo
- 3 Wiktionary, English rent
- Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1733–1737, Alexander Pope: “So bought an annual rent or two, / And…”.
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*deh₃-Wiktionary, Latin do‘give’reconstructed
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*dédeh₃tiWiktionary, Latin do‘to be giving’reconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*didōWiktionary, Latin do‘to give’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEdōWiktionary, Latin reddo‘give’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEreddōWiktionary, English rentas reddere‘to give back’
- Late Latinc. 200–600 CErendereWiktionary, English rent
- Early Medieval LatinmodernrenditaWiktionary, English rent
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400renteWiktionary, English rent‘income’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500rentWiktionary, English rent‘rent: income’
- Englishearliest quotation 1733–1737rentWiktionary, English rent. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1733–1737, Alexander Pope: “So bought an annual rent or two, / And…”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *deh₃- ‘give’
date, add, addition, delicious, donate, donation, donor, dow, vendor, additive, condone, dowry, rendition, dowager, addendum, perdition, dower, endow, dati, sconce, 38 more
through Proto-Indo-European *dédeh₃ti ‘to be giving’
dose, anecdote, antidote, dacha, 18 more
through Proto-Italic *didō ‘to give’
through Latin dō ‘give’
data, die, tradition, treason, vent, 16 more
through Late Latin rendere
Today it means
noun A payment made by a tenant at intervals in order to lease a property.
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “rent”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Latin do, Latin reddo. 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 *deh₃- / rent