Etymograph

English

sputnik

Sputnik comes from Russian спу́тник ‘satellite’, from пу́тник ‘traveller’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *pent- ‘path’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*pent-1‘path’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*póntoh₁s1‘path’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Balto-Slavicc. 2000–500 BCE*pántis1‘way, path, road’reconstructed
  4. Proto-Slavicc. 400–900 CE*pǫtь1‘way, path’reconstructed
  5. Proto-Slavicc. 400–900 CE*pǫtьnikъ1‘traveler, wayfarer’reconstructed
  6. Russianmodernпу́тник1pútnik‘traveller’
  7. Russianmodernспу́тник1spútnik‘satellite’literally ‘fellow traveller’
  8. Englishearliest quotation 1957sputnik1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English sputnik
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1957, Sputnik pseudonym, My Son Hates School: “BEFORE school rocketed into his tiny world with about…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*pent-Wiktionary, English sputnik‘path’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*póntoh₁sWiktionary, English sputnik‘path’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Balto-Slavicc. 2000–500 BCE*pántisWiktionary, English sputnik‘way, path, road’reconstructed
  4. Proto-Slavicc. 400–900 CE*pǫtьWiktionary, English sputnik‘way, path’reconstructed
  5. Proto-Slavicc. 400–900 CE*pǫtьnikъWiktionary, English sputnik‘traveler, wayfarer’reconstructed
  6. Russianmodernпу́тникWiktionary, English sputnikpútnik‘traveller’
  7. Russianmodernспу́тникWiktionary, English sputnikspútnik‘satellite’literally ‘fellow traveller’
  8. Englishearliest quotation 1957sputnikWiktionary, English sputnik. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1957, Sputnik pseudonym, My Son Hates School: “BEFORE school rocketed into his tiny world with about…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *pent- ‘path’

find, path, patrol, pad, faze, pontiff, pontifex, 14 more

through Proto-Indo-European *póntoh₁s ‘path’

pontoon, pontifical, pons, 8 more

Today it means

noun Any of a series of Soviet robotic space satellites, especially the first one in 1957.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “sputnik”. 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 *pent- / sputnik

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