Etymograph

English

tanist

Tanist comes from Irish tánaiste ‘second-in-command’, from Old Irish saidid ‘to sit’, and perhaps ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *sed-.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*sed-1‘to sit’uncertain
  2. Proto-Celticc. 1300–800 BCE*sedeti1‘to sit’uncertain
  3. Old Irishc. 600–900saidid1‘to sit’uncertain
  4. Old Irishc. 600–900tánaise2
  5. Irishc. 1200–presenttánaiste3‘second-in-command’
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1922tanist3

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Old Irish tánaise
  2. 2 Wiktionary, Irish tánaiste
  3. 3 Wiktionary, English tanist
  4. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1922, James Joyce, [Episode 3: Proteus]: “Lover, for her love he prowled with colonel Richard…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*sed-Wiktionary, Old Irish tánaise‘to sit’uncertain
  2. Proto-Celticc. 1300–800 BCE*sedetiWiktionary, Old Irish tánaise‘to sit’uncertain
  3. Old Irishc. 600–900saididWiktionary, Old Irish tánaise‘to sit’uncertain
  4. Old Irishc. 600–900tánaiseWiktionary, Irish tánaiste
  5. Irishc. 1200–presenttánaisteWiktionary, English tanist‘second-in-command’
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1922tanistWiktionary, English tanist. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1922, James Joyce, [Episode 3: Proteus]: “Lover, for her love he prowled with colonel Richard…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *sed- ‘to sit’

set, president, size, sell, sit, sitting, seat, method, session, chair, resident, settle, assess, possess, siege, nest, saddle, exodus, reside, niche, subsidy, residue, residual, sediment, nye, sedan, insidious, beset, prasad, cathode, soot, sedative, setter, sedentary, dissident, obsess, sedate, presidio, anode, sate, 95 more

Today it means

noun The heir presumptive to the chieftainship or kingship of a Celtic clan in ancient Ireland, Scotland or Mann.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “tanist”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Old Irish tánaise, Irish tánaiste. 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 *sed- / tanist

Shirt and support for this word