Etymograph

English

sans

Sans comes from Middle English saunz ‘without, lacking, sans’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *swé ‘self’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*swé1‘self’reconstructed
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEsine2‘without’
  3. Old Frenchc. 842–1400sans2
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500saunz2‘without, lacking, sans’
  5. Englishearliest quotation c. 1595–1596sans2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin sine
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English sans
  3. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: c. 1595–1596, W. Shakespere [i.e., William Shakespeare]: “Bero[wne]. […] And to begin Wench, ſo God helpe…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*swéWiktionary, Latin sine‘self’reconstructed
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEsineWiktionary, English sans‘without’
  3. Old Frenchc. 842–1400sansWiktionary, English sans
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500saunzWiktionary, English sans‘without, lacking, sans’
  5. Englishearliest quotation c. 1595–1596sansWiktionary, English sans. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: c. 1595–1596, W. Shakespere [i.e., William Shakespeare]: “Bero[wne]. […] And to begin Wench, ſo God helpe…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *swé ‘self’

such, self, suicide, solo, idiot, sole, solitary, solitude, desolate, desolation, solitaire, swain, idiocy, sullen, solus, sere, 19 more

Today it means

prep Without; lacking; especially with regard to something expected or with precedent.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “sans”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Latin sine. 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 *swé / sans

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