Etymograph

English

senate

Senate comes from Latin senātus ‘council of elders’, from senex ‘old’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *sénos.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*sénos1‘old’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*senos2reconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*seneks1reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEsenex2‘old man; old’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEsenātus2‘council of elders, senate’
  6. Old Frenchc. 842–1400senat2
  7. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500senat2
  8. Englishearliest quotation 1818senate2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin senex
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English senate
  3. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1818, Percy Bysshe Shelley, The Revolt of Islam: “Before the Tyrant's throne All night his aged Senate…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*sénosWiktionary, Latin senex‘old’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*senosWiktionary, English senatereconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*seneksWiktionary, Latin senexreconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEsenexWiktionary, English senate‘old man; old’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEsenātusWiktionary, English senate‘council of elders, senate’
  6. Old Frenchc. 842–1400senatWiktionary, English senate
  7. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500senatWiktionary, English senate
  8. Englishearliest quotation 1818senateWiktionary, English senate. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1818, Percy Bysshe Shelley, The Revolt of Islam: “Before the Tyrant's throne All night his aged Senate…”

Word family

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

through Latin senex ‘old’

10 more relatives in the full family tree

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Today it means

noun In some bicameral legislative systems, the upper house or chamber.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “senate”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Latin senex. 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 *sénos / senate