Etymograph

English

subrogation

Subrogation comes from Late Latin subrogātiō, from rogātiō ‘inquiry, request’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *preḱ- ‘to ask’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*preḱ-1‘to ask’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*prokos1reconstructed
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEprocus1‘wooer, suitor’
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEprocō1‘to ask, urge, demand’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CErogō1‘ask’
  6. Late Latinc. 200–600 CErogātiō2‘inquiry, request’
  7. Late Latinc. 200–600 CEsubrogātiō2
  8. Englishtodaysubrogation2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin rogatio
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English subrogation

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*preḱ-Wiktionary, Latin rogatio‘to ask’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*prokosWiktionary, Latin rogatioreconstructed
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEprocusWiktionary, Latin rogatio‘wooer, suitor’
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEprocōWiktionary, Latin rogatio‘to ask, urge, demand’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CErogōWiktionary, Latin rogatio‘ask’
  6. Late Latinc. 200–600 CErogātiōWiktionary, English subrogation‘inquiry, request’
  7. Late Latinc. 200–600 CEsubrogātiōWiktionary, English subrogation
  8. EnglishtodaysubrogationWiktionary, English subrogation

Formed from sub- + rogation

Proto-Indo-European *upó ‘up; from below’

Proto-Italic *supo ‘under’

Latin sub ‘under, beneath, below’

English sub-

Proto-Indo-European *h₃reǵ- ‘to stretch out’

Proto-Indo-European *h₃roǵós ‘stretching’

Latin rogō ‘request’

Latin rogātiō ‘an asking, demanding’

English rogation

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *preḱ- ‘to ask’

prayer, pray, precarious, postulate, deprecation, 25 more

through Latin rogō ‘ask’

rogue, arrogant, arrogance, interrogation, derogatory, prerogative, derogation, 13 more

Today it means

noun Substitution of a different person in place of a creditor or claimant with respect to certain rights and duties.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “subrogation”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Latin rogatio. 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 *preḱ- / subrogation

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