Etymograph

English

send

Send comes from Middle English senden ‘to send’, from Proto-Indo-European *sont-eye-ti ‘to cause to go’, and ultimately from *sent- ‘to walk, travel’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*sent-1‘to walk’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*sont-eye-ti1‘to cause to go’reconstructedcausative of *sent-
  3. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*sandijaną1‘to send’reconstructed
  4. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*sandijan1‘to send’reconstructed
  5. Old Englishc. 450–1150sendan1‘to send’
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500senden1‘to send’
  7. Englishearliest quotation c. 1604–1605send1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English send
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: c. 1604–1605, William Shakespeare, All’s Well, that Ends Well: “God send him well!”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*sent-Wiktionary, English send‘to walk’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*sont-eye-tiWiktionary, English send‘to cause to go’reconstructedcausative of *sent-
  3. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*sandijanąWiktionary, English send‘to send’reconstructed
  4. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*sandijanWiktionary, English send‘to send’reconstructed
  5. Old Englishc. 450–1150sendanWiktionary, English send‘to send’
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500sendenWiktionary, English send‘to send’
  7. Englishearliest quotation c. 1604–1605sendWiktionary, English send. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: c. 1604–1605, William Shakespeare, All’s Well, that Ends Well: “God send him well!”

Word family

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

through Proto-Indo-European *sent- ‘to walk, travel’

  • sense ← sens ← *sennus ← *sinn ← *sinnaz
  • sentence ← sententia ← sentiēns ← sentiō ← *sentiō
  • sensitive ← sensitif ← sensitivus ← sentiō ← *sentiō
  • consent ← consentir ← cōnsentīre ← sentiō ← *sentiō
  • consensus ← cōnsentiō ← sentiō ← *sentiō
  • sensible ← sēnsibilis ← sentiō ← *sentiō
  • sentiment ← sentement ← sentimentum ← sentiō ← *sentiō
  • scent ← sent ← sentir ← sentiō
  • sensation ← sensus ← sentiō ← *sentiō
  • sensor ← sentiō ← *sentiō
  • sith ← sīþ ← *sinþ ← *sinþaz
  • sensibility ← sensibilite ← sensibilité ← sēnsibilitās ← sēnsibilis

40 more relatives in the full family tree

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Today it means

verb To make something (such as an object or message) go from one place to another (or to someone).

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “send”. 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 *sent- / send