Etymograph

English

second

Second comes from Latin secundus ‘following, next in order’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *sekʷ-.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*sekʷ-1‘to follow’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*sekʷondo-1reconstructed
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEsecundus1‘following’
  4. Old Frenchc. 842–1400second1
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500secunde1
  6. Englishearliest quotation c. 1596–1598second1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English second
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: c. 1596–1598, William Shakespeare, The Merchant of Venice: “A Daniel ſtill ſay I, a ſecond Daniel,[…]”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*sekʷ-Wiktionary, English second‘to follow’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*sekʷondo-Wiktionary, English secondreconstructed
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEsecundusWiktionary, English second‘following’
  4. Old Frenchc. 842–1400secondWiktionary, English second
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500secundeWiktionary, English second
  6. Englishearliest quotation c. 1596–1598secondWiktionary, English second. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: c. 1596–1598, William Shakespeare, The Merchant of Venice: “A Daniel ſtill ſay I, a ſecond Daniel,[…]”

Word family

English words that share an ancestor with second, grouped by the ancestor they share, most familiar first.

through Proto-Indo-European *sekʷ- ‘to follow’

  • say ← saien ← seċġan ← *saggjan ← *sagjaną
  • see ← seen ← sēon ← *sehwan ← *sehwaną
  • social ← sociālis ← socius ← sokios ← *sokjos
  • saw ← sawe ← saga ← *sagā ← *sagǭ
  • society ← societé ← societé ← societās ← socius
  • suit ← sute ← suite ← siute ← *sequita
  • executive ← executif ← executivus ← exsequi
  • sight ← sighte ← sihþ ← *sihti ← *sehwan
  • associate ← associat ← associātus ← associō ← sociō
  • pursue ← pursuen ← pursure ← prōsequor ← sequor
  • sue ← seuen ← suer
  • subsequent ← subsequēns

57 more relatives in the full family tree

No ads, ever.

Become a founding member, $29 onceI have a code

Explore everything descended from *sekʷ- →

Another origin of second

  1. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*sekʷondo-literally ‘that follows’reconstructed
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEsecundus‘favorable’
  3. Medieval Latinc. 600–1500secunda
  4. Old Frenchc. 842–1400seconde
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500secunde‘an angular unit equal to a sixtieth of an angular minute’
  6. Englishtodaysecond

Another origin of second

  1. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEsecundō‘assist, make favorable’
  2. Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600seconder
  3. Englishtodaysecond

No ads, ever. This is how the app stays alive.

Become a founding member, $29 onceWear this word, $32Support the app

Today it means

adj Number-two; following after the first one with nothing between them. The ordinal number corresponding to the cardinal number two.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “second”. 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 *sekʷ- / second