Etymograph

English

senex

Senex comes from Latin senex ‘old man, older man’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *sénos.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*sénos1‘old’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*seneks1reconstructed
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEsenex2‘old man, older man’
  4. Englishearliest quotation 1997senex2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin senex
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English senex
  3. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1997, Arthur Asa Berger, The Art of Comedy Writing: “6. Old Men or Senexes. Frequently these characters have…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*sénosWiktionary, Latin senex‘old’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*seneksWiktionary, Latin senexreconstructed
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEsenexWiktionary, English senex‘old man, older man’
  4. Englishearliest quotation 1997senexWiktionary, English senex. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1997, Arthur Asa Berger, The Art of Comedy Writing: “6. Old Men or Senexes. Frequently these characters have…”

Linked words

through Proto-Italic *seneks

senatorial, 8 more

through Latin senex ‘old man, older man’

sir, senior, senate, senator, sire, monsignor, senile, signore, signoria, senescent, 9 more

Today it means

noun An older or old man, chiefly as a stock character.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “senex”; 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 / senex

Shirt and support for this word