Etymograph

English

replenish

Replenish comes from Old French repleniss-, from plein ‘full’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *pleh₁- ‘to fill’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*pleh₁-1‘to fill’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*pl̥h₁nós2‘full’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*plēnos2‘full’reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEplenus3‘full’
  5. Old Frenchc. 842–1400plein3‘full’
  6. Old Frenchc. 842–1400repleniss-3
  7. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500replenisshen3
  8. Englishearliest quotation c. 1593replenish3

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Proto-Indo-European *pl̥h₁nós
  2. 2 Wiktionary, Latin plenus
  3. 3 Wiktionary, English replenish
  4. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: c. 1593, William Shakespeare, The Tragedy of Richard the Third: […]: “We smothered the most replenished sweet work of nature.”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*pleh₁-Wiktionary, Proto-Indo-European *pl̥h₁nós‘to fill’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*pl̥h₁nósWiktionary, Latin plenus‘full’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*plēnosWiktionary, Latin plenus‘full’reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEplenusWiktionary, English replenish‘full’
  5. Old Frenchc. 842–1400pleinWiktionary, English replenish‘full’
  6. Old Frenchc. 842–1400repleniss-Wiktionary, English replenish
  7. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500replenisshenWiktionary, English replenish
  8. Englishearliest quotation c. 1593replenishWiktionary, English replenish. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: c. 1593, William Shakespeare, The Tragedy of Richard the Third: […]: “We smothered the most replenished sweet work of nature.”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *pleh₁- ‘to fill’

people, public, popular, complete, plus, supply, poll, folk, completion, comply, implement, manipulation, accomplish, supplement, plural, complement, plethora, puri, depletion, volk, plebs, deplete, plebeian, 76 more

through Proto-Indo-European *pl̥h₁nós ‘full’

full, fill, fulsome, 21 more

through Latin plenus ‘full’

plenty, ample, amplitude, amplify, plenary, plenum, 15 more

through Old French plein ‘full’

plain

Today it means

verb To refill; to renew; to supply again or to add a fresh quantity to.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “replenish”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Proto-Indo-European *pl̥h₁nós, Latin plenus. 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 *pleh₁- / replenish

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