Etymograph

English

uterus

Uterus comes from Latin uterus ‘womb, uterus’, from Proto-Indo-European *úderos ‘abdomen, stomach’, and ultimately from *úd ‘upwards, away, out, outward’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*úd1‘upwards, away, out, outward’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*úderos1‘abdomen, stomach’reconstructed
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEuterus1‘womb, uterus’
  4. Englishtodayuterus1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English uterus

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*údWiktionary, English uterus‘upwards, away, out, outward’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*úderosWiktionary, English uterus‘abdomen, stomach’reconstructed
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEuterusWiktionary, English uterus‘womb, uterus’
  4. EnglishtodayuterusWiktionary, English uterus

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *úd ‘upwards, away, out, outward’

about, out, awaken, outward, amaze, utter, hubris, aghast, hysteresis, 8 more

through Latin uterus ‘womb, uterus’

uterine, 1 more

Today it means

noun A reproductive organ of therian mammals in which the young are conceived and develop until birth.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “uterus”. 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 *úd / uterus

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