Etymograph

English

thetes

Thetes comes from Ancient Greek θής ‘hired laborer’, from τῐ́θημῐ ‘to place’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *dʰeh₁-.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*dʰeh₁-1‘to put, place’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*dʰé-dʰeh₁-ti1reconstructed
  3. Proto-Hellenicc. 2200–1600 BCE*t(e/i)tʰēmi1reconstructed
  4. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEτῐ́θημῐ2tĭ́thēmĭ‘to place’
  5. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEθής3thḗs‘hired laborer’
  6. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEθῆτες3thêtesplural of θής
  7. Englishtodaythetes3

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Ancient Greek τίθημι
  2. 2 Wiktionary, Ancient Greek θής
  3. 3 Wiktionary, English thetes

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*dʰeh₁-Wiktionary, Ancient Greek τίθημι‘to put, place’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*dʰé-dʰeh₁-tiWiktionary, Ancient Greek τίθημιreconstructed
  3. Proto-Hellenicc. 2200–1600 BCE*t(e/i)tʰēmiWiktionary, Ancient Greek τίθημιreconstructed
  4. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEτῐ́θημῐWiktionary, Ancient Greek θήςtĭ́thēmĭ‘to place’
  5. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEθήςWiktionary, English thetesthḗs‘hired laborer’
  6. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEθῆτεςWiktionary, English thetesthêtesplural of θής
  7. EnglishtodaythetesWiktionary, English thetes

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *dʰeh₁- ‘to put, place’

do, fact, deal, hot, fair, defense, fan, benefit, fashion, feature, mid, defence, custom, sufficient, theme, defendant, feast, ethnic, doom, deed, dis, ethical, theology, auditorium, auditor, synthetic, demi, deem, spade, forfeit, feral, aesthetic, fanatic, familial, medial, atheist, medallion, prefect, certify, profanity, 119 more

through Proto-Indo-European *dʰé-dʰeh₁-ti

treasurer, 11 more

through Proto-Hellenic *t(e/i)tʰēmi

treasury, treasure, tick, synthesis, thesaurus, 12 more

through Ancient Greek τῐ́θημῐ ‘to place’

thesis, thematic, thema, 4 more

Today it means

noun The lowest social class of citizens in ancient Athens.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “thetes”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Ancient Greek τίθημι, Ancient Greek θής. 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 *dʰeh₁- / thetes

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