Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “treaty” come from?

Treaty comes from Middle English trety, from Old French traitié, from Latin tractatus, the past participle of trahere meaning to draw or handle, literally referring to something drawn up or negotiated.

treaty (English): A binding agreement concluded by subjects of...

Definitions

  1. A binding agreement concluded by subjects of...

Ancestry of “treaty”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Middle Englishtrete—
2Frenchtraitétreatise; treaty ; an agreement; past participle...
3Frenchtraiterto treat; to take care; to process, spray, coat
4Middle Frenchtraicterto treat
5Old Frenchtraiter—
6Latintractāre—
7Latintractō—
8Latin-tō—
9Latin-tusForms the past participle of verbs; Forms...
10Proto-Italic-tus—
11Proto-Indo-European-tusDerives action nouns from verb roots

Words derived from “treaty”

  • treatymaking
  • nontreaty
  • antitreaty
  • treatyless
  • treatymaker
Every word from Proto-Indo-European -tus →