Etymograph

English

treasure

Treasure comes from Middle English tresour ‘treasure, hoard’, from Ancient Greek τίθημι ‘to put, place, deposit, set, assume, settle’, 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 BCEτίθημι2títhēmi‘to put, place, deposit, set, assume, settle’
  5. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEθησαυρός3thēsaurós‘treasure house’
  6. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEthēsaurus3
  7. Vulgar Latinc. 100–700 CE*tresaurus4reconstructed
  8. Old Frenchc. 842–1400tresor3‘treasury’
  9. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500tresour3‘treasure, hoard’
  10. Englishearliest quotation 1611treasure3

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Ancient Greek τίθημι
  2. 2 Wiktionary, Ancient Greek θησαυρός, which cites Beekes
  3. 3 Wiktionary, English treasure
  4. 4 Wiktionary, Old French tresor
  5. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1611, The Holy Bible, London: […] Robert Barker: “Ye shall be peculiar treasure unto me.”.

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 BCEτίθημιWiktionary, Ancient Greek θησαυρός, which cites Beekestíthēmi‘to put, place, deposit, set, assume, settle’
  5. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEθησαυρόςWiktionary, English treasurethēsaurós‘treasure house’
  6. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEthēsaurusWiktionary, English treasure
  7. Vulgar Latinc. 100–700 CE*tresaurusWiktionary, Old French tresorreconstructed
  8. Old Frenchc. 842–1400tresorWiktionary, English treasure‘treasury’
  9. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500tresourWiktionary, English treasure‘treasure, hoard’
  10. Englishearliest quotation 1611treasureWiktionary, English treasure. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1611, The Holy Bible, London: […] Robert Barker: “Ye shall be peculiar treasure unto me.”

The story

Mostly displaced native Old English goldhord (See goldhoard) and Old English ġestrēon.

Full etymology on Wiktionary

Linked words

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

do, fact, hot, deal, fair, defense, fan, benefit, mid, fashion, theme, defence, custom, ethnic, feature, sufficient, ethical, aesthetic, defendant, synthetic, theology, doom, deed, dis, atheist, ethic, auditorium, auditor, feast, atheism, demi, deem, spade, thematic, ethos, forfeit, feral, fanatic, familial, medial, 124 more

through Proto-Hellenic *t(e/i)tʰēmi

thesis, 14 more

through Ancient Greek τίθημι ‘to put, place, deposit, set, assume, settle’

synthesis, tick, epithet, 16 more

through Latin thēsaurus

thesaurus, 2 more

Today it means

noun A collection of valuable things; accumulated wealth; a stock of money, jewels, etc.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “treasure”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Ancient Greek τίθημι, Ancient Greek θησαυρός, Old French tresor. 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- / treasure

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