Etymograph

English

sojourn

Sojourn comes from Old French sojor ‘time spent in a given place’, from Late Latin diurnus ‘lasting for a day’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *dyew- ‘sky, heaven’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*dyew-1‘sky, heaven’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*dyḗws2‘heaven, sky’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*djēm2reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEaccusative2
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEdies3‘day’
  6. Late Latinc. 200–600 CEdiurnus3‘lasting for a day’
  7. Vulgar Latinc. 100–700 CE*subdiurnāre3reconstructed
  8. Old Frenchc. 842–1400sojor3‘time spent in a given place’
  9. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500sojourne3
  10. Englishearliest quotation 1611sojourn3

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Proto-Indo-European *dyḗws
  2. 2 Wiktionary, Latin dies
  3. 3 Wiktionary, English sojourn
  4. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1611, The Holy Bible, London: […] Robert Barker: “Abram went down into Egypt to sojourn there.”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*dyew-Wiktionary, Proto-Indo-European *dyḗws‘sky, heaven’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*dyḗwsWiktionary, Latin dies‘heaven, sky’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*djēmWiktionary, Latin diesreconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEaccusativeWiktionary, Latin dies
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEdiesWiktionary, English sojourn‘day’
  6. Late Latinc. 200–600 CEdiurnusWiktionary, English sojourn‘lasting for a day’
  7. Vulgar Latinc. 100–700 CE*subdiurnāreWiktionary, English sojournreconstructed
  8. Old Frenchc. 842–1400sojorWiktionary, English sojourn‘time spent in a given place’
  9. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500sojourneWiktionary, English sojourn
  10. Englishearliest quotation 1611sojournWiktionary, English sojourn. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1611, The Holy Bible, London: […] Robert Barker: “Abram went down into Egypt to sojourn there.”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *dyew- ‘sky, heaven’

divine, dev, deity, divinity, diva, div, deuce, divination, joss, deva, jovial, deism, deist, 28 more

through Latin accusative

viable, 4 more

through Latin dies ‘day’

die, diary, dial, journalism, meridian, diurnal, 10 more

through Late Latin diurnus ‘lasting for a day’

journal, journey, 2 more

Today it means

noun A short stay somewhere.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “sojourn”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Proto-Indo-European *dyḗws, Latin dies. 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 *dyew- / sojourn

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