Etymograph

English

sonnet

Sonnet comes from Middle French sonnet, from Old Occitan sonet ‘a song’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *swenh₂- ‘to sound’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*swenh₂-1‘to sound’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*swónh₂os1reconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*swonos1reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEsonus2‘sound’
  5. Old Occitanc. 950–1500sonet2‘a song’
  6. Italianc. 1300–presentsonetto2
  7. Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600sonnet2
  8. Englishearliest quotation 1649sonnet2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin sonus
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English sonnet
  3. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1649, John Milton, London: […] Matthew Simmons: “strains that come almost to sonneting”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*swenh₂-Wiktionary, Latin sonus‘to sound’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*swónh₂osWiktionary, Latin sonusreconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*swonosWiktionary, Latin sonusreconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEsonusWiktionary, English sonnet‘sound’
  5. Old Occitanc. 950–1500sonetWiktionary, English sonnet‘a song’
  6. Italianc. 1300–presentsonettoWiktionary, English sonnet
  7. Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600sonnetWiktionary, English sonnet
  8. Englishearliest quotation 1649sonnetWiktionary, English sonnet. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1649, John Milton, London: […] Matthew Simmons: “strains that come almost to sonneting”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *swenh₂- ‘to sound’

re, personal, swan, personnel, resonance, resonate, resonant, parson, sonorous, consonance, 11 more

through Proto-Italic *swonos

resound, 4 more

through Latin sonus ‘sound’

sound, son, unison, sone, 5 more

Today it means

noun A fixed verse form of Italian origin consisting of fourteen lines that are typically five-foot iambics and rhyme according to one of a few prescribed schemes.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “sonnet”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Latin sonus. 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 *swenh₂- / sonnet

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