Etymograph

English

urbs

Urbs comes from Latin urbs ‘a city, walled town’, from Proto-Indo-European *gʰórdʰos ‘hedge, fence’, and ultimately from *gʰerdʰ-.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*gʰerdʰ-1‘enclosure, fence, belt’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*gʰórdʰos1‘hedge, fence’uncertain
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEurbs1‘a city, walled town’
  4. Englishtodayurbs1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English urbs

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*gʰerdʰ-Wiktionary, English urbs‘enclosure, fence, belt’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*gʰórdʰosWiktionary, English urbs‘hedge, fence’uncertain
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEurbsWiktionary, English urbs‘a city, walled town’
  4. EnglishtodayurbsWiktionary, English urbs

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *gʰerdʰ- ‘enclosure, fence, belt’

hangar, girth, girdle, jardin, gord, gird, 9 more

through Proto-Indo-European *gʰórdʰos ‘hedge, fence’

garden, yard, garth, 3 more

through Latin urbs ‘a city, walled town’

urban, 5 more

Today it means

noun A walled city in Ancient Rome.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “urbs”. 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 *gʰerdʰ- / urbs

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