Etymograph

English

sternutation

Sternutation comes from Latin sternutatio ‘sneezing, sternutation’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *(p)st(e)rnu-.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*(p)st(e)rnu-1‘to sneeze’reconstructed
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEsternuō2‘to sneeze’
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEsternūtō3‘to sneeze’
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEsternutatio4‘sneezing, sternutation’
  5. Englishearliest quotation 1816sternutation4

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin sternuo
  2. 2 Wiktionary, Latin sternuto
  3. 3 Wiktionary, Latin sternutatio
  4. 4 Wiktionary, English sternutation
  5. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1816, Sir Walter Scott, The Antiquary: “'Was that an echo?' said the Baronet, astonished at…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*(p)st(e)rnu-Wiktionary, Latin sternuo‘to sneeze’reconstructed
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEsternuōWiktionary, Latin sternuto‘to sneeze’
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEsternūtōWiktionary, Latin sternutatio‘to sneeze’
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEsternutatioWiktionary, English sternutation‘sneezing, sternutation’
  5. Englishearliest quotation 1816sternutationWiktionary, English sternutation. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1816, Sir Walter Scott, The Antiquary: “'Was that an echo?' said the Baronet, astonished at…”

Every English word from Proto-Indo-European *(p)st(e)rnu-

Today it means

noun A sneeze; sneezing, especially as a symptom.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “sternutation”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Latin sternuo, Latin sternuto, Latin sternutatio. 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 *(p)st(e)rnu- / sternutation

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