*SET-U

English word origin

Etymology of acedia

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *né Proto-Indo-European *n̥- Proto-Hellenic *ə- Ancient Greek ἀ- (a-) Proto-Indo-European *ḱeh₂d- Proto-Indo-European *ḱeh₂dos Proto-Hellenic *kā́dos Ancient Greek κῆδος (kêdos) Ancient

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In this entry · 1 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.

Unnumbered source etymology

Original entry ↗
noun

Spiritual or mental sloth and the feeling it provokes; apathy or indifference; a lack of care or interest and the resultant avoidance of duties; a bored melancholy leading to desperation, restlessness and anxiety.

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

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *né Proto-Indo-European *n̥- Proto-Hellenic *ə- Ancient Greek ἀ- (a-) Proto-Indo-European *ḱeh₂d- Proto-Indo-European *ḱeh₂dos Proto-Hellenic *kā́dos Ancient Greek κῆδος (kêdos) Ancient Greek ἀκηδής (akēdḗs) Proto-Indo-European *-h₂ Proto-Indo-European *-éh₂ Proto-Indo-European *-i-eh₂ Proto-Hellenic *-íā Ancient Greek -ίᾱ (-íā) Ancient Greek ἀκηδίᾱ (akēdíā)bor. Latin acēdiabor. English acedia Borrowed from Latin acēdia, borrowed from Ancient Greek ἀκηδίᾱ (akēdíā), from ἀκηδής (akēdḗs, “careless”) + -ίᾱ (-íā). Doublet of accidie.

Relationships mentioned by the source

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

Inspect preserved source fields

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

{
  "templates": [
    {
      "name": "etymon",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": ":bor",
        "3": "la:acēdia",
        "tree": "1",
        "text": "++"
      },
      "expansion": "Etymology tree\nProto-Indo-European *né\nProto-Indo-European *n̥-\nProto-Hellenic *ə-\nAncient Greek ἀ- (a-)\nProto-Indo-European *ḱeh₂d-\nProto-Indo-European *ḱeh₂dos\nProto-Hellenic *kā́dos\nAncient Greek κῆδος (kêdos)\nAncient Greek ἀκηδής (akēdḗs)\nProto-Indo-European *-h₂\nProto-Indo-European *-éh₂\nProto-Indo-European *-i-eh₂\nProto-Hellenic *-íā\nAncient Greek -ίᾱ (-íā)\nAncient Greek ἀκηδίᾱ (akēdíā)bor.\nLatin acēdiabor.\nEnglish acedia\n[Appendix:Glossary#loanword|Borrowed]] from\", \"terms\" : [ { \"children\" : [ { \"keyword_abbrev\" : \"bor.\", \"keyword_label\" : \"Borrowed from\", \"terms\" : [ { \"children\" : [ { \"terms\" : [ { \"gloss\" : \"careless\", \"children\" : [ { \"terms\" : [ { \"gloss\" : \"un-\", \"children\" : [ { \"terms\" : [ { \"id\" : \"un-\", \"children\" : [ { \"terms\" : [ { \"id\" : \"not\", \"children\" : [ { \"terms\" : [ { \"id\" : \"not\", \"children\" : [ ], \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang_name\" : \"Proto-Indo-European\", \"term\" : \"*né\", \"lang\" : \"ine-pro\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"From\", \"keyword\" : \"from\" } ], \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang_name\" : \"Proto-Indo-European\", \"term\" : \"*n̥-\", \"lang\" : \"ine-pro\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"Inherited from\", \"keyword\" : \"inherited\" } ], \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang_name\" : \"Proto-Hellenic\", \"term\" : \"*ə-\", \"lang\" : \"grk-pro\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"Inherited from\", \"keyword\" : \"inherited\" } ], \"lang_name\" : \"Ancient Greek\", \"term\" : \"ἀ-\", \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang\" : \"grc\" }, { \"gloss\" : \"care\", \"children\" : [ { \"terms\" : [ { \"children\" : [ { \"terms\" : [ { \"children\" : [ { \"terms\" : [ { \"children\" : [ ], \"lang_name\" : \"Proto-Indo-European\", \"term\" : \"*ḱeh₂d-\", \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang\" : \"ine-pro\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"From\", \"keyword\" : \"from\" } ], \"lang_name\" : \"Proto-Indo-European\", \"term\" : \"*ḱeh₂dos\", \"status\" : \"inline\", \"lang\" : \"ine-pro\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"Inherited from\", \"keyword\" : \"inherited\" } ], \"lang_name\" : \"Proto-Hellenic\", \"term\" : \"*kā́dos\", \"status\" : \"inline\", \"lang\" : \"grk-pro\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"Inherited from\", \"keyword\" : \"inherited\" } ], \"lang_name\" : \"Ancient Greek\", \"term\" : \"κῆδος\", \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang\" : \"grc\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"From\", \"is_group\" : true, \"keyword\" : \"affix\" } ], \"lang_name\" : \"Ancient Greek\", \"term\" : \"ἀκηδής\", \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang\" : \"grc\" }, { \"children\" : [ { \"terms\" : [ { \"children\" : [ { \"terms\" : [ { \"alt\" : \"*-i-eh₂\", \"id\" : \"i-extension\", \"children\" : [ { \"terms\" : [ { \"id\" : \"o-grade\", \"children\" : [ { \"terms\" : [ { \"id\" : \"collective nouns\", \"children\" : [ ], \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang_name\" : \"Proto-Indo-European\", \"term\" : \"*-h₂\", \"lang\" : \"ine-pro\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"From\", \"keyword\" : \"from\" } ], \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang_name\" : \"Proto-Indo-European\", \"term\" : \"*-éh₂\", \"lang\" : \"ine-pro\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"From\", \"keyword\" : \"from\" } ], \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang_name\" : \"Proto-Indo-European\", \"term\" : \"*-éh₂\", \"lang\" : \"ine-pro\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"Inherited from\", \"keyword\" : \"inherited\" } ], \"lang_name\" : \"Proto-Hellenic\", \"term\" : \"*-íā\", \"status\" : \"inline\", \"lang\" : \"grk-pro\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"Inherited from\", \"keyword\" : \"inherited\" } ], \"lang_name\" : \"Ancient Greek\", \"term\" : \"-ίᾱ\", \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang\" : \"grc\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"From\", \"is_group\" : true, \"keyword\" : \"affix\" } ], \"lang_name\" : \"Ancient Greek\", \"term\" : \"ἀκηδίᾱ\", \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang\" : \"grc\" } ], \"keyword\" : \"bor\" } ], \"lang_name\" : \"Latin\", \"term\" : \"acēdia\", \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang\" : \"la\" } ], \"keyword\" : \"bor\" } ], \"lang_name\" : \"English\", \"term\" : \"acedia\", \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang\" : \"en\" }\" data-lang=\"en\" data-title=\"acedia\">\nBorrowed from Latin acēdia, borrowed from Ancient Greek ἀκηδίᾱ (akēdíā), from ἀκηδής (akēdḗs, “careless”) + -ίᾱ (-íā)."
    },
    {
      "name": "doublet",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "accidie"
      },
      "expansion": "Doublet of accidie"
    },
    {
      "name": "etymon",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": ":bor",
        "3": "la:acēdia",
        "tree": "1",
        "text": "++"
      },
      "expansion": "Etymology tree\nProto-Indo-European *né\nProto-Indo-European *n̥-\nProto-Hellenic *ə-\nAncient Greek ἀ- (a-)\nProto-Indo-European *ḱeh₂d-\nProto-Indo-European *ḱeh₂dos\nProto-Hellenic *kā́dos\nAncient Greek κῆδος (kêdos)\nAncient Greek ἀκηδής (akēdḗs)\nProto-Indo-European *-h₂\nProto-Indo-European *-éh₂\nProto-Indo-European *-i-eh₂\nProto-Hellenic *-íā\nAncient Greek -ίᾱ (-íā)\nAncient Greek ἀκηδίᾱ (akēdíā)bor.\nLatin acēdiabor.\nEnglish acedia\nBorrowed from Latin acēdia, borrowed from Ancient Greek ἀκηδίᾱ (akēdíā), from ἀκηδής (akēdḗs, “careless”) + -ίᾱ (-íā)."
    }
  ],
  "links": [
    [
      "*né",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/né#Proto-Indo-European:_not"
    ],
    [
      "*n̥-",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/n̥-#Proto-Indo-European:_not"
    ],
    [
      "*ə-",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-Hellenic/ə-#Proto-Hellenic:_un-"
    ],
    [
      "ἀ-",
      "ἀ-#Ancient_Greek"
    ],
    [
      "*ḱeh₂d-",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/ḱeh₂d-"
    ],
    [
      "*ḱeh₂dos",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/ḱeh₂dos"
    ],
    [
      "*kā́dos",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-Hellenic/kā́dos"
    ],
    [
      "κῆδος",
      "κῆδος#Ancient_Greek"
    ],
    [
      "ἀκηδής",
      "ἀκηδής#Ancient_Greek"
    ],
    [
      "*-h₂",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/-h₂#Proto-Indo-European:_collective_nouns"
    ],
    [
      "*-éh₂",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/-éh₂#Proto-Indo-European:_o-grade"
    ],
    [
      "*-i-eh₂",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/-éh₂#Proto-Indo-European:_i-extension"
    ],
    [
      "*-íā",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-Hellenic/-íā"
    ],
    [
      "-ίᾱ",
      "-ία#Ancient_Greek"
    ],
    [
      "ἀκηδίᾱ",
      "ἀκηδία#Ancient_Greek"
    ],
    [
      "acēdia",
      "acedia#Latin"
    ],
    [
      "acēdia",
      "acedia#Latin"
    ],
    [
      "ἀκηδίᾱ",
      "ἀκηδία#Ancient_Greek"
    ],
    [
      "ἀκηδής",
      "ἀκηδής#Ancient_Greek"
    ],
    [
      "-ίᾱ",
      "-ία#Ancient_Greek"
    ],
    [
      "accidie",
      "accidie#English"
    ]
  ],
  "references": [],
  "descendants": [],
  "lexical": [
    {
      "pos": "noun",
      "glosses": [
        "Spiritual or mental sloth and the feeling it provokes; apathy or indifference; a lack of care or interest and the resultant avoidance of duties; a bored melancholy leading to desperation, restlessness and anxiety."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "uncountable"
      ],
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      "rawRecordSha256": "47d585576198e77861dcad0c406f000810675f85c51a03ef3af206c7eb656215",
      "sourceRecordOrdinal": 463340
    }
  ],
  "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 acedia →

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-YWNlZGlh