Etymograph

English

sermon

Sermon comes from Latin sermō, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *ser- ‘to bind’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ser-1‘to bind’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*sermō1reconstructed
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEsermō1
  4. Anglo-Normanc. 1066–1400sermun1uncertain
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500sermoun1‘a sermon’
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1918sermon1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English sermon
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1918, William Babington Maxwell, Indianapolis: “One saint's day in mid-term a certain newly appointed…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ser-Wiktionary, English sermon‘to bind’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*sermōWiktionary, English sermonreconstructed
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEsermōWiktionary, English sermon
  4. Anglo-Normanc. 1066–1400sermunWiktionary, English sermonuncertain
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500sermounWiktionary, English sermon‘a sermon’
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1918sermonWiktionary, English sermon. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1918, William Babington Maxwell, Indianapolis: “One saint's day in mid-term a certain newly appointed…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *ser- ‘to bind’

service, sort, series, stream, hero, serve, conservative, desert, reservoir, insert, heresy, exert, assertion, conservatism, sorcery, sorcerer, assertive, heretic, concierge, observant, sark, servitude, strudel, conservator, servile, serf, sere, 34 more

Today it means

noun Religious discourse; a written or spoken address on a religious or moral matter.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “sermon”. 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 *ser- / sermon

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