Etymograph

English

temerity

Temerity comes from Latin temeritās ‘chance, accident, rashness’, from Proto-Italic *temezi ‘in darkness, blindly’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *temH- ‘dark’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*temH-1‘dark’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*témHos1‘darkness’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*temezi1‘in darkness, blindly’reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEtemere2‘by chance, casually, rashly’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEtemeritās2‘chance, accident, rashness’
  6. Old Frenchc. 842–1400temerité2
  7. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500temerite2
  8. Englishearliest quotation 1769temerity2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin temere
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English temerity
  3. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1769, Firishta, Tales translated from the Persian of Inatulla of Delhi: “Jewan Sadit, who ſtood before the prince, obſerving his…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*temH-Wiktionary, Latin temere‘dark’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*témHosWiktionary, Latin temere‘darkness’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*temeziWiktionary, Latin temere‘in darkness, blindly’reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEtemereWiktionary, English temerity‘by chance, casually, rashly’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEtemeritāsWiktionary, English temerity‘chance, accident, rashness’
  6. Old Frenchc. 842–1400temeritéWiktionary, English temerity
  7. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500temeriteWiktionary, English temerity
  8. Englishearliest quotation 1769temerityWiktionary, English temerity. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1769, Firishta, Tales translated from the Persian of Inatulla of Delhi: “Jewan Sadit, who ſtood before the prince, obſerving his…”

Equivalent to temerarious + -ity

Proto-Indo-European *temH- ‘dark’

Proto-Indo-European *témHos ‘darkness’

Proto-Italic *temezi ‘in darkness, blindly’

Latin temerē ‘by chance, at random, rashly’

Latin temerārius ‘accidental, casual, rash, reckless’

English temerarious

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *temH- ‘dark’

timid, 20 more

through Proto-Indo-European *témHos ‘darkness’

tamas, 10 more

Today it means

noun Reckless boldness; foolish bravery.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “temerity”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Latin temere. 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 *temH- / temerity

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