Etymograph

English

repel

Repel comes from Latin repellere ‘to drive back’, from Proto-Italic *pelnō ‘to approach’, and perhaps ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *pel- ‘to drive, strike, thrust’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*pel-1‘to drive, strike, thrust’uncertain
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*pelnō1‘to approach’uncertain
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpellō2as pellere‘to drive’
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CErepellere2‘to drive back’
  5. Old Frenchc. 842–1400*repeller2reconstructed
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500repellen2
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1624repel2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin pello
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English repel
  3. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1624, Democritus Junior pseudonym; Robert Burt, The Anatomy of Melancholy: […]: “It is some satisfaction to him that is repelled,…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*pel-Wiktionary, Latin pello‘to drive, strike, thrust’uncertain
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*pelnōWiktionary, Latin pello‘to approach’uncertain
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpellōWiktionary, English repelas pellere‘to drive’
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CErepellereWiktionary, English repel‘to drive back’
  5. Old Frenchc. 842–1400*repellerWiktionary, English repelreconstructed
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500repellenWiktionary, English repel
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1624repelWiktionary, English repel. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1624, Democritus Junior pseudonym; Robert Burt, The Anatomy of Melancholy: […]: “It is some satisfaction to him that is repelled,…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *pel- ‘to drive, strike, thrust’

film, simple, simply, push, felt, filter, powder, complain, fold, pillow, flaw, pollen, palate, palpable, palladium, palatable, pall, wallow, polemic, tuple, pollinate, palatal, peloton, muffle, apoplexy, pulver, palp, pillion, interpolate, peplum, 62 more

through Proto-Italic *pelnō ‘to approach’

impulse, repulse, 11 more

through Latin pellō ‘to drive’

appeal, pulse, compulsory, propulsion, expulsion, compulsive, repeal, appellate, compel, expel, propel, dispel, pelt, impel, rappel, 16 more

Today it means

verb To turn (someone) away from a privilege, right, job, etc.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “repel”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Latin pello. 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 *pel- / repel

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