Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “inaugurate” come from?

Inaugurate comes from French inaugurer, from Latin augurare meaning to practice augury, prefixed with Latin in-, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European h₁én meaning being or existence.

inaugurate (English): To induct into office with a formal ceremony; To...

Definitions

  1. To induct into office with a formal ceremony; To...

Ancestry of “inaugurate”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Frenchinaugurerto inaugurate
2Latininaugurō—
3LatinauguroI predict, foretell, forebode; I conjecture,...
4Latinauguraugur
5Latvianaugoslocative plural form of augs; locative plural...
6Proto-Indo-Europeanh₂ewg-to increase, to enlarge
7Proto-Indo-Europeanh₂weg-to increase, to enlarge
8Proto-Indo-Europeanh₂ug-—

Words derived from “inaugurate”

  • inaugurated
  • reinaugurate
  • inaugurative
  • uninaugurated
Every word from Proto-Indo-European h₂ug- →