English word origin

Etymology of -t

4 source sectionsExtended source reportWiktionary original ↗

In this entry · 4 source sections

The source etymologies

Wiktionary via Kaikki / Wiktextract

The source reports below are imported and unreviewed by *SET-U. Separate numbered origins and differing source variants are preserved; agreement within this extraction is not independent corroboration.

Source etymology 1

Original entry ↗

suffix

Used to form the past tense and/or past participle of some verbs.

Selected source glosses provide context, not a complete modern definition inventory

From Middle English -te (past tense ending), -t (past participle ending), from Old English -te, -de (first and third person past tense ending), -t, -ed, -od (past participle ending), from Proto-Germanic *-id- (past tense stem ending of class 1 weak verbs) and *-idaz (past participle ending of class 1 weak verbs). In some verbs, like lose/lost, the ‐t‐/‐t arose during the Middle English period from the devoicing of the earlier ‐d‐/‐d. This devoicing typically occurred after the suffix was syncopated from ‐ede and ‐ed, forcing the voiced alveolar stop directly against the stem’s final consonant. See -ed (etymologies 1 and 2). Furthermore, in forms such as spelt and burnt, the participial -t is a later development during the Early Modern English period.

Relationships mentioned by the source

These are extracted mentions, not a timeline or a verified sequence of immediate parents.

Inherited-form mention-teenm
Inherited-form mention-teang
Inherited-form mention*-id-gem-pro

Inspect preserved source fields

Raw extraction fields are retained for auditing. Their order does not establish ancestry.

{
  "templates": [
    {
      "name": "etymid",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "past ending"
      },
      "expansion": ""
    },
    {
      "name": "inh",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "enm",
        "3": "-te",
        "id": "past ending",
        "pos": "past tense ending"
      },
      "expansion": "Middle English -te (past tense ending)"
    },
    {
      "name": "inh",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "ang",
        "3": "-te"
      },
      "expansion": "Old English -te"
    },
    {
      "name": "inh",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "gem-pro",
        "3": "*-id-",
        "pos": "past tense stem ending of class 1 weak verbs"
      },
      "expansion": "Proto-Germanic *-id- (past tense stem ending of class 1 weak verbs)"
    }
  ],
  "links": [
    [
      "-te",
      "-te#Middle_English:_past_ending"
    ],
    [
      "-t",
      "-t#Middle_English:_past_ending"
    ],
    [
      "-te",
      "-te#Old_English"
    ],
    [
      "-de",
      "-de#Old_English"
    ],
    [
      "-t",
      "-t#Old_English"
    ],
    [
      "-ed",
      "-ed#Old_English"
    ],
    [
      "-od",
      "-od#Old_English"
    ],
    [
      "*-id-",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-Germanic/-id-"
    ],
    [
      "*-idaz",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-Germanic/-idaz"
    ],
    [
      "lose",
      "lose#English"
    ],
    [
      "lost",
      "lost#English"
    ],
    [
      "-ed",
      "-ed#English"
    ],
    [
      "etymologies 1",
      "-ed#English:_past_tense"
    ],
    [
      "2",
      "-ed#English:_past_participle"
    ],
    [
      "spelt",
      "spelt#English"
    ],
    [
      "burnt",
      "burnt#English"
    ]
  ],
  "references": [],
  "descendants": [],
  "lexical": [
    {
      "pos": "suffix",
      "glosses": [
        "Used to form the past tense and/or past participle of some verbs."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "morpheme"
      ],
      "recordId": "41d4e0f2a49d76d1c0f7304f4a832edbcf847661a29e7700b78fb3681b141414",
      "rawRecordSha256": "27ae1a2c96b82a588de97a0595689a5596c08d161c848f861950db3f3189c6a9",
      "sourceRecordOrdinal": 241792
    }
  ],
  "omittedAuxiliaryFields": {
    "templates": 0,
    "links": 0,
    "references": 0,
    "descendants": 0,
    "lexicalRecords": 0,
    "lexicalSenses": 0,
    "glosses": 0
  }
}

Source etymology 2

Original entry ↗

suffix

An excrescent ending appended to words suffixed with -s.

Selected source glosses provide context, not a complete modern definition inventory

From Middle English -t (e.g. aȝenst vs. aȝens (“against”)), likely resulting from -s + the, or various other words beginning with th-, t-.

Relationships mentioned by the source

These are extracted mentions, not a timeline or a verified sequence of immediate parents.

Inherited-form mention-tenm

Inspect preserved source fields

Raw extraction fields are retained for auditing. Their order does not establish ancestry.

{
  "templates": [
    {
      "name": "inh",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "enm",
        "3": "-t"
      },
      "expansion": "Middle English -t"
    }
  ],
  "links": [
    [
      "-t",
      "-t#Middle_English"
    ],
    [
      "aȝenst",
      "aȝenst#Middle_English"
    ],
    [
      "aȝens",
      "aȝens#Middle_English"
    ],
    [
      "-s",
      "-s#English"
    ],
    [
      "the",
      "the#English"
    ]
  ],
  "references": [],
  "descendants": [],
  "lexical": [
    {
      "pos": "suffix",
      "glosses": [
        "An excrescent ending appended to words suffixed with -s."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "morpheme"
      ],
      "recordId": "01a3852e5052cad959f67196094b8fea50f3d31235a56ca2327d9cde8b01da0d",
      "rawRecordSha256": "0dd352713208ce08686f157d33eb2e0a264c4feac7121e2303f0e9f07d5c7d60",
      "sourceRecordOrdinal": 241793
    }
  ],
  "omittedAuxiliaryFields": {
    "templates": 0,
    "links": 0,
    "references": 0,
    "descendants": 0,
    "lexicalRecords": 0,
    "lexicalSenses": 0,
    "glosses": 0
  }
}

Source etymology 3

Original entry ↗

suffix

Used to form nouns from verbs of action; equivalent to -th.

Selected source glosses provide context, not a complete modern definition inventory

From Middle English -t, from Old English -t, variant of -þ (“-th”) following spirant/fricative sounds, from Proto-Germanic *-þiz. More at -th.

Relationships mentioned by the source

These are extracted mentions, not a timeline or a verified sequence of immediate parents.

Inherited-form mention-tenm
Inherited-form mention-tang
Inherited-form mention*-þizgem-pro

Inspect preserved source fields

Raw extraction fields are retained for auditing. Their order does not establish ancestry.

{
  "templates": [
    {
      "name": "inh",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "enm",
        "3": "-t"
      },
      "expansion": "Middle English -t"
    },
    {
      "name": "inh",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "ang",
        "3": "-t"
      },
      "expansion": "Old English -t"
    },
    {
      "name": "inh",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "gem-pro",
        "3": "*-þiz"
      },
      "expansion": "Proto-Germanic *-þiz"
    }
  ],
  "links": [
    [
      "-t",
      "-t#Middle_English"
    ],
    [
      "-t",
      "-t#Old_English"
    ],
    [
      "-þ",
      "-þ#Old_English"
    ],
    [
      "*-þiz",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-Germanic/-þiz"
    ],
    [
      "-th",
      "-th#English:_abstract_nominal"
    ]
  ],
  "references": [],
  "descendants": [],
  "lexical": [
    {
      "pos": "suffix",
      "glosses": [
        "Used to form nouns from verbs of action; equivalent to -th."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "morpheme"
      ],
      "recordId": "0e6773fd4b6a978b606388347d16bb81f8a4c3221b1b4a41c9be2642d6200968",
      "rawRecordSha256": "e697aff3ede088f6d0336a65fc62208e0077a9a6abf566d7c2223eb6fbc3e5e0",
      "sourceRecordOrdinal": 241794
    }
  ],
  "omittedAuxiliaryFields": {
    "templates": 0,
    "links": 0,
    "references": 0,
    "descendants": 0,
    "lexicalRecords": 0,
    "lexicalSenses": 0,
    "glosses": 0
  }
}

Source etymology 4

Original entry ↗

suffix

Used to form verbs from nouns or adjectives (compare -ate, -ize), frequently having a causative force, or modified from an existing verb into a frequentative verb.

Selected source glosses provide context, not a complete modern definition inventory

Suffix from Middle English -ten, from Old English -ettan, from Proto-West Germanic *-attjan, from Proto-Germanic *-atjaną.

Relationships mentioned by the source

These are extracted mentions, not a timeline or a verified sequence of immediate parents.

Inherited-form mention-tenenm
Inherited-form mention-ettanang
Inherited-form mention*-attjangmw-pro
Inherited-form mention*-atjanągem-pro

Inspect preserved source fields

Raw extraction fields are retained for auditing. Their order does not establish ancestry.

{
  "templates": [
    {
      "name": "inh",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "enm",
        "3": "-ten"
      },
      "expansion": "Middle English -ten"
    },
    {
      "name": "inh",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "ang",
        "3": "-ettan"
      },
      "expansion": "Old English -ettan"
    },
    {
      "name": "inh",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "gmw-pro",
        "3": "*-attjan"
      },
      "expansion": "Proto-West Germanic *-attjan"
    },
    {
      "name": "inh",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "gem-pro",
        "3": "*-atjaną"
      },
      "expansion": "Proto-Germanic *-atjaną"
    }
  ],
  "links": [
    [
      "-ten",
      "-ten#Middle_English"
    ],
    [
      "-ettan",
      "-ettan#Old_English"
    ],
    [
      "*-attjan",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-West Germanic/-attjan"
    ],
    [
      "*-atjaną",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-Germanic/-atjaną"
    ]
  ],
  "references": [],
  "descendants": [],
  "lexical": [
    {
      "pos": "suffix",
      "glosses": [
        "Used to form verbs from nouns or adjectives (compare -ate, -ize), frequently having a causative force, or modified from an existing verb into a frequentative verb."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "idiomatic",
        "morpheme"
      ],
      "recordId": "c2094538bf9515e32b6361f5fc3e2c69b4f09bf757b82d4a552fa04eec759520",
      "rawRecordSha256": "c2d8f8f11819bf1bc49562566bf929773f0d998e6b2bbd1ff3f41bf3c168abb9",
      "sourceRecordOrdinal": 241795
    }
  ],
  "omittedAuxiliaryFields": {
    "templates": 0,
    "links": 0,
    "references": 0,
    "descendants": 0,
    "lexicalRecords": 0,
    "lexicalSenses": 0,
    "glosses": 0
  }
}

Where this record stops

This page does not supply an independently verified sound-change sequence, first-use manuscript or complete family tree unless a cited analysis explicitly establishes one. Missing detail here is a limit of this record—not a claim that humanity knows nothing more.

An older meaning does not determine what a word must mean today. Follow the sources, preserve disagreements, and keep ancestry separate from interpretation.

Contribute located evidence for -t →

Source and snapshot

Imported from Wiktionary contributors; extracted by Tatu Ylonen / Wiktextract / Kaikki.org. Selected fields are reformatted and grouped; wording, source identity and etymology sections are retained. CC-BY-SA-4.0 applies to the imported source material.

Dump: 2026-10-01 · Extracted: 2026-10-30. These are snapshot dates, not the word’s first attestation or the page’s revision date.

Source entry and bibliography ↗Wiktionary revision history ↗Acquisition and rights ledger

Machine-source provenance

Source SHA-256: 5ff2c072f8099f2d2ce484bd6957bf179f046d2ad37bc36555edf8bb84cb5291
Import run: 73216b9a9b78ed3830994bf853103716f5a4dc57099e371e9f8fdc468facca26
Permanent entry ID: w-LXQ