Etymograph

English

undulate

Undulate comes from New Latin undulātus ‘undulated, diversified as with waves, pleated’, from Latin *undula ‘a small wave’, and ultimately from unda.

  1. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEunda1‘wave’
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CE*undula2‘a small wave’reconstructed
  3. New Latinc. 1500–1900undulātus3‘undulated, diversified as with waves, pleated’
  4. Englishearliest quotation 1669undulate3

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin undula
  2. 2 Wiktionary, Latin undulatus
  3. 3 Wiktionary, English undulate
  4. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1669, William Holder: “Breath vocalized, i.e., vibrated and undulated.”.

Earlier history uncertain. See Wiktionary.

Lineage

  1. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEundaWiktionary, Latin undula‘wave’
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CE*undulaWiktionary, Latin undulatus‘a small wave’reconstructed
  3. New Latinc. 1500–1900undulātusWiktionary, English undulate‘undulated, diversified as with waves, pleated’
  4. Englishearliest quotation 1669undulateWiktionary, English undulate. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1669, William Holder: “Breath vocalized, i.e., vibrated and undulated.”

first attested First attested in 1664 (as stated in Wiktionary’s etymology)

The story

First attested in 1664; borrowed from New Latin undulātus, the perfect passive participle of undulō (see -ate (verb-forming suffix)), from an unattested *undula (‘small wave’), diminutive of Latin unda (‘wave’).

Full etymology on Wiktionary

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *wed- ‘water’

water, wet, wash, vodka, hydro, otter, vitriol, hydrate, hydride, vitreous, aldehyde, vedra, 43 more

through Latin unda ‘wave’

abundance, surround, abundant, und, redundant, undated, inundation, undine, inundate, 8 more

Another origin of undulate

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*udn-om‘body of water’uncertain
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEunda‘wave’
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CE*undula‘a small wave’reconstructed
  4. Late Latinc. 200–600 CEundulātus‘undulated’
  5. Englishtodayundulate

Today it means

verb To cause to move in a wavelike motion.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “undulate”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Latin undula, Latin undulatus. 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 / Latin unda / undulate

Shirt and support for this word