English
representation
Representation comes from Latin repraesentō ‘to show, exhibit, display’, from praesum ‘to be before something’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *bʰuH- ‘to be, become, grow, appear’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*bʰuH-1‘to be, become, grow, appear’reconstructed
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*bʰúHt1‘to become’reconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*ezom~*som1reconstructed
- Archaic Latinc. 700–75 BCE𐌄𐌔𐌏𐌌1esom
- Old Latinc. 700–75 BCEesum1
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEsum1‘to be, exist’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpraesum1‘to be before something’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpraesens2
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpraesentō3‘to present, exhibit or show’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CErepraesentō4‘to show, exhibit, display’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CErepraesentātiō5
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400representacion5
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500representacioun5
- Englishearliest quotation 1978representation5
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
- 1 Wiktionary, Latin praesens
- 2 Wiktionary, Latin praesento
- 3 Wiktionary, Latin repraesento
- 4 Wiktionary, Latin repraesentatio
- 5 Wiktionary, English representation
- Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1978, 1976, Leszek Kołakowski: “In the pursuit of its objectives the party creates…”.
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*bʰuH-Wiktionary, Latin praesens‘to be, become, grow, appear’reconstructed
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*bʰúHtWiktionary, Latin praesens‘to become’reconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*ezom~*somWiktionary, Latin praesensreconstructed
- Archaic Latinc. 700–75 BCE𐌄𐌔𐌏𐌌Wiktionary, Latin praesensesom
- Old Latinc. 700–75 BCEesumWiktionary, Latin praesens
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEsumWiktionary, Latin praesens‘to be, exist’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpraesumWiktionary, Latin praesens‘to be before something’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpraesensWiktionary, Latin praesento
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpraesentōWiktionary, Latin repraesento‘to present, exhibit or show’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CErepraesentōWiktionary, Latin repraesentatio‘to show, exhibit, display’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CErepraesentātiōWiktionary, English representation
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400representacionWiktionary, English representation
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500representaciounWiktionary, English representation
- Englishearliest quotation 1978representationWiktionary, English representation. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1978, 1976, Leszek Kołakowski: “In the pursuit of its objectives the party creates…”
Equivalent to represent + -ation
Latin sum ‘to be’
…
Latin praesens ‘present’
Latin praesentō ‘to present’
Latin repraesentō ‘to show’
Old French représenter
English represent
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *bʰuH- ‘to be, become, grow, appear’
be, been, build, physical, bush, bound, bond, physician, booth, probability, contribution, favorable, distribute, bun, favourable, contributor, fiat, bouquet, imp, bower, rebuke, retribution, attribution, beamer, bosque, physic, aren, phylogeny, phylum, boor, bist, futur, approbation, 74 more
through Proto-Indo-European *bʰúHt ‘to become’
power, possible, bondage, impossibility, impotent, busk, 12 more
through Old Latin esum
through Latin sum ‘to be, exist’
future, improve, proud, pride, absence, essential, approve, entity, absent, prowess, prude, prow, 12 more
through Latin praesens
through Latin praesentō ‘to present, exhibit or show’
Today it means
noun That which represents something else.
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “representation”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Latin praesens, Latin praesento, Latin repraesento, Latin repraesentatio. 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 *bʰuH- / representation