Where does “patent” come from?

patent (Middle French) comes from Old French patent, from Latin patēns, from Latin pateō, from Proto-Indo-European peth₂- — to spread out; to fly.

Ancestry of “patent”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Old Frenchpatent—
2Latinpatēnsbeing opening; open
3Latinpateōto be open, accessible, attainable
4Proto-Indo-Europeanpeth₂-to spread out; to fly

Words derived from “patent”

Every word from Proto-Indo-European peth₂- →Every word from Latin pateō →Every word from Latin patēns →