English
ut
Ut comes from Latin ut ‘how’, and perhaps goes back to Proto-Indo-European *kʷís ‘who, what’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*kʷís1‘who, what’uncertain
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEut2‘how’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500ut2‘first degree or note of Guido of Arezzo's hexachordal scales’
- Englishearliest quotation c. 1595–1596ut2
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
- 1 Wiktionary, Latin ut
- 2 Wiktionary, English ut
- Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: c. 1595–1596, William Shakespeare, Loues Labour’s Lost: “Old Mantuam, old Mantuan. Who vnderſtandeth thee not, vt…”.
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*kʷísWiktionary, Latin ut‘who, what’uncertain
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEutWiktionary, English ut‘how’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500utWiktionary, English ut‘first degree or note of Guido of Arezzo's hexachordal scales’
- Englishearliest quotation c. 1595–1596utWiktionary, English ut. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: c. 1595–1596, William Shakespeare, Loues Labour’s Lost: “Old Mantuam, old Mantuan. Who vnderſtandeth thee not, vt…”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *kʷís ‘who, what’
Today it means
noun Syllable (formerly) used in solfège to represent the first note of a major scale.
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “ut”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Latin ut. 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.