Etymograph

English

solid

Solid comes from Old French solide, from Latin solidus ‘dense, whole’, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *solh₂- ‘whole’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*solh₂-1‘integrate’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*solh₂-i-dʰ-o-s1‘entire’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*soliðos1reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEsolidus1
  5. Old Frenchc. 842–1400solide1
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500solide1
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1670solid1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English solid
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1670, John Milton, (please specify the page): “the solid purpose of a sincere and virtuous answer”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*solh₂-Wiktionary, English solid‘integrate’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*solh₂-i-dʰ-o-sWiktionary, English solid‘entire’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*soliðosWiktionary, English solidreconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEsolidusWiktionary, English solid
  5. Old Frenchc. 842–1400solideWiktionary, English solid
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500solideWiktionary, English solid
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1670solidWiktionary, English solid. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1670, John Milton, (please specify the page): “the solid purpose of a sincere and virtuous answer”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *solh₂- ‘integrate, whole’

save, safe, sold, salvation, sage, salute, holocaust, savior, salvage, salvo, salve, salvia, salutation, salutary, salubrious, 27 more

through Latin solidus

soldier, xu, sol, consolidate, sou, soldado, 10 more

Another origin of solid

  1. Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600solideuncertain
  2. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500solid
  3. Englishtodaysolid

Today it means

adj That can be picked up or held, having a texture, and usually firm. Unlike a liquid, gas or plasma.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “solid”. 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 *solh₂- / solid

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