*SET-U

English word origin

Etymology of due

From Middle English dewe, dew, due, from Old French deü (“due”), past participle of devoir (“to owe”), from Latin dēbēre (“to owe”), from dē- (“from”) + habeō (“to have”).

1 source sectionExtended source reportWiktionary original ↗
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

Deserved acknowledgment. · A membership fee. · That which is owed; debt; that which belongs or may be claimed as a right; whatever custom, law, or morality requires to be done, duty. · Right; just title or claim.

adj

Owed or owing. · Appropriate. · Scheduled; expected. · Having reached the expected, scheduled, or natural time.

adv

Directly; exactly.

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

From Middle English dewe, dew, due, from Old French deü (“due”), past participle of devoir (“to owe”), from Latin dēbēre (“to owe”), from dē- (“from”) + habeō (“to have”).

Relationships mentioned by the source

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

This page abbreviates 2 auxiliary source items. The etymology narrative is not shortened. Omission counts are available in the audit fields below; consult the original for complete auxiliary material.

Inspect preserved source fields

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

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      "name": "root",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "ine-pro",
        "3": "*gʰeh₁bʰ-"
      },
      "expansion": ""
    },
    {
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      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "enm",
        "3": "dewe"
      },
      "expansion": "Middle English dewe"
    },
    {
      "name": "der",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "fro",
        "3": "deu",
        "4": "deü",
        "5": "due"
      },
      "expansion": "Old French deü (“due”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "der",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "la",
        "3": "dēbeō",
        "4": "dēbēre",
        "t": "to owe"
      },
      "expansion": "Latin dēbēre (“to owe”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "prefix",
      "args": {
        "1": "la",
        "2": "dē",
        "3": "habeō",
        "gloss1": "from",
        "t2": "to have",
        "nocat": "1"
      },
      "expansion": "dē- (“from”) + habeō (“to have”)"
    }
  ],
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    [
      "dewe",
      "dewe#Middle_English"
    ],
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      "dew",
      "dew#Middle_English"
    ],
    [
      "due",
      "due#Middle_English"
    ],
    [
      "deü",
      "deu#Old_French"
    ],
    [
      "devoir",
      "devoir#Old_French"
    ],
    [
      "dēbēre",
      "debeo#Latin"
    ],
    [
      "dē-",
      "de-#Latin"
    ],
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      "habeō",
      "habeo#Latin"
    ]
  ],
  "references": [],
  "descendants": [],
  "lexical": [
    {
      "pos": "noun",
      "glosses": [
        "Deserved acknowledgment.",
        "A membership fee.",
        "That which is owed; debt; that which belongs or may be claimed as a right; whatever custom, law, or morality requires to be done, duty.",
        "Right; just title or claim."
      ],
      "tags": [
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    },
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      "pos": "adj",
      "glosses": [
        "Owed or owing.",
        "Appropriate.",
        "Scheduled; expected.",
        "Having reached the expected, scheduled, or natural time."
      ],
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    },
    {
      "pos": "adv",
      "glosses": [
        "Directly; exactly."
      ],
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  "omittedAuxiliaryFields": {
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    "lexicalRecords": 0,
    "lexicalSenses": 2,
    "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 due →

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-ZHVl