Etymograph

English

resonant

Resonant may come from French résonner ‘to resonate’, from Latin resonō ‘to sound or ring again, resound, reecho’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *swenh₂-.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*swenh₂-1‘to sound’uncertain
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*swonh₂éyeti1uncertain
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*swonaō1‘to sound, resound’uncertain
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEsonō1‘make a noise, sound, resound’uncertain
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEresonō2as resonāre‘to sound or ring again, resound, reecho’uncertain
  6. Frenchc. 1600–presentrésonner3as résonnant‘to resonate’uncertain
  7. Englishearliest quotation 2023resonant3

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin resono
  2. 2 Wiktionary, French résonner
  3. 3 Wiktionary, English resonant
  4. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 2023, Ashley Strickland: ““Cheops gave us this resonant configuration that allowed us…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*swenh₂-Wiktionary, Latin resono‘to sound’uncertain
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*swonh₂éyetiWiktionary, Latin resonouncertain
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*swonaōWiktionary, Latin resono‘to sound, resound’uncertain
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEsonōWiktionary, Latin resono‘make a noise, sound, resound’uncertain
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEresonōWiktionary, French résonneras resonāre‘to sound or ring again, resound, reecho’uncertain
  6. Frenchc. 1600–presentrésonnerWiktionary, English resonantas résonnant‘to resonate’uncertain
  7. Englishearliest quotation 2023resonantWiktionary, English resonant. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 2023, Ashley Strickland: ““Cheops gave us this resonant configuration that allowed us…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *swenh₂- ‘to sound’

sound, swan, unison, sonnet, sone, 12 more

through Proto-Italic *swonaō ‘to sound, resound’

impersonal, 8 more

through Latin sonō ‘make a noise, sound, resound’

personal, personnel, parson, sonorous, consonance, 9 more

through Latin resonō ‘to sound or ring again, resound, reecho’

re, resound, 2 more

Today it means

adj Resounding, echoing.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “resonant”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Latin resono, French résonner. 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 *swenh₂- / resonant

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