*SET-U

English word origin

Etymology of heat

From Middle English hete, from Old English hǣtu, from Proto-West Germanic *haitī, from Proto-Germanic *haitį̄ (“heat”), from Proto-Indo-European *keHy- (“heat; hot”). Cognate with Scots hete (“heat”), Saterland Frisian H

3 source sectionsExtended source reportWiktionary original ↗
In this entry · 3 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 ↗
noun

Thermal energy. · Heating system; a system that raises the temperature of a room or building. · The output of a heating system. · The condition or quality of being hot.

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

From Middle English hete, from Old English hǣtu, from Proto-West Germanic *haitī, from Proto-Germanic *haitį̄ (“heat”), from Proto-Indo-European *keHy- (“heat; hot”). Cognate with Scots hete (“heat”), Saterland Frisian Hatte (“heat”), Old High German heizī (“heat”). Related also to Dutch hitte (“heat”), German Hitze (“heat”), Swedish hetta (“heat”), Faroese and Icelandic hiti (“heat”). Related to hot.

Relationships mentioned by the source

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

  • Root classification mention*keHy-ine-pro
  • Inherited-form mentionheteenm
  • Inherited-form mentionhǣtuang
  • Inherited-form mention*haitīgmw-pro
  • Inherited-form mention*haitį̄gem-pro · heat
  • Derivation mention*keHy-ine-pro · heat; hot
  • Cognate mentionhetesco
  • Cognate mentionHattestq
  • Cognate mentionheizīgoh
  • Cognate mentionhittenl
  • Cognate mentionHitzede
  • Cognate mentionhettasv

This page abbreviates 17 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.

{
  "templates": [
    {
      "name": "root",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "ine-pro",
        "3": "*keHy-"
      },
      "expansion": ""
    },
    {
      "name": "etymid",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "hotness"
      },
      "expansion": ""
    },
    {
      "name": "inh",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "enm",
        "3": "hete"
      },
      "expansion": "Middle English hete"
    },
    {
      "name": "inh",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "ang",
        "3": "hǣtu"
      },
      "expansion": "Old English hǣtu"
    },
    {
      "name": "inh",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "gmw-pro",
        "3": "*haitī"
      },
      "expansion": "Proto-West Germanic *haitī"
    },
    {
      "name": "inh",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "gem-pro",
        "3": "*haitį̄",
        "t": "heat"
      },
      "expansion": "Proto-Germanic *haitį̄ (“heat”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "der",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "ine-pro",
        "3": "*keHy-",
        "t": "heat; hot"
      },
      "expansion": "Proto-Indo-European *keHy- (“heat; hot”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "sco",
        "2": "hete",
        "3": "",
        "4": "heat"
      },
      "expansion": "Scots hete (“heat”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "stq",
        "2": "Hatte",
        "3": "",
        "4": "heat"
      },
      "expansion": "Saterland Frisian Hatte (“heat”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "goh",
        "2": "heizī",
        "3": "",
        "4": "heat"
      },
      "expansion": "Old High German heizī (“heat”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "nl",
        "2": "hitte",
        "3": "",
        "4": "heat"
      },
      "expansion": "Dutch hitte (“heat”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "de",
        "2": "Hitze",
        "3": "",
        "4": "heat"
      },
      "expansion": "German Hitze (“heat”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "sv",
        "2": "hetta",
        "3": "",
        "4": "heat"
      },
      "expansion": "Swedish hetta (“heat”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "fo,is",
        "2": "hiti",
        "3": "",
        "4": "heat"
      },
      "expansion": "Faroese and Icelandic hiti (“heat”)"
    }
  ],
  "links": [
    [
      "hete",
      "hete#Middle_English"
    ],
    [
      "hǣtu",
      "hætu#Old_English"
    ],
    [
      "*haitī",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-West Germanic/haitī"
    ],
    [
      "*haitį̄",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-Germanic/haitį̄"
    ],
    [
      "*keHy-",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/keHy-"
    ],
    [
      "hete",
      "hete#Scots"
    ],
    [
      "Hatte",
      "Hatte#Saterland_Frisian"
    ],
    [
      "heizī",
      "heizi#Old_High_German"
    ],
    [
      "hitte",
      "hitte#Dutch"
    ],
    [
      "Hitze",
      "Hitze#German"
    ],
    [
      "hetta",
      "hetta#Swedish"
    ],
    [
      "Faroese",
      "hiti#Faroese"
    ],
    [
      "hiti",
      "hiti#Icelandic"
    ],
    [
      "hot",
      "hot"
    ]
  ],
  "references": [],
  "descendants": [],
  "lexical": [
    {
      "pos": "noun",
      "glosses": [
        "Thermal energy.",
        "Heating system; a system that raises the temperature of a room or building.",
        "The output of a heating system.",
        "The condition or quality of being hot."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "uncountable",
        "countable"
      ],
      "recordId": "7630bcbfce69a9cf57bb66b326d6f66d4e56730d6e3e5f39cfc102539ecaf33c",
      "rawRecordSha256": "750f25974062d2486325dea5838b8f498c43b14e752fad3261e5137a518e1a5e",
      "sourceRecordOrdinal": 150240
    }
  ],
  "omittedAuxiliaryFields": {
    "templates": 0,
    "links": 0,
    "references": 0,
    "descendants": 0,
    "lexicalRecords": 0,
    "lexicalSenses": 17,
    "glosses": 0
  }
}

Source etymology 2

Original entry ↗
verb

To cause an increase in temperature of (an object or space); to cause to become hot (often with "up"). · To become hotter. · To excite or make hot by action or emotion; to make feverish. · To excite ardour in; to rouse to action; to excite to excess; to inflame, as the passions.

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

From Middle English heten, from Old English hǣtan (“to heat; become hot”), from Proto-Germanic *haitijaną (“to heat, make hot”).

Relationships mentioned by the source

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

This page abbreviates 1 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.

{
  "templates": [
    {
      "name": "etymid",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "to make hot"
      },
      "expansion": ""
    },
    {
      "name": "inh",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "enm",
        "3": "heten"
      },
      "expansion": "Middle English heten"
    },
    {
      "name": "inh",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "ang",
        "3": "hǣtan",
        "4": "",
        "5": "to heat; become hot"
      },
      "expansion": "Old English hǣtan (“to heat; become hot”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "inh",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "gem-pro",
        "3": "*haitijaną",
        "4": "",
        "5": "to heat, make hot"
      },
      "expansion": "Proto-Germanic *haitijaną (“to heat, make hot”)"
    }
  ],
  "links": [
    [
      "heten",
      "heten#Middle_English"
    ],
    [
      "hǣtan",
      "hætan#Old_English"
    ],
    [
      "*haitijaną",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-Germanic/haitijaną"
    ]
  ],
  "references": [],
  "descendants": [],
  "lexical": [
    {
      "pos": "verb",
      "glosses": [
        "To cause an increase in temperature of (an object or space); to cause to become hot (often with \"up\").",
        "To become hotter.",
        "To excite or make hot by action or emotion; to make feverish.",
        "To excite ardour in; to rouse to action; to excite to excess; to inflame, as the passions."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "transitive",
        "intransitive",
        "figuratively"
      ],
      "recordId": "2d5d2ea79650b95f523e867519cbe8b73166815cf0c7489880a069bb9164f998",
      "rawRecordSha256": "12c573a99254d2e0ca5925eb622d2193dee14ebe70320ea294408694adf65182",
      "sourceRecordOrdinal": 150241
    }
  ],
  "omittedAuxiliaryFields": {
    "templates": 0,
    "links": 0,
    "references": 0,
    "descendants": 0,
    "lexicalRecords": 0,
    "lexicalSenses": 1,
    "glosses": 0
  }
}

Source etymology 3

Original entry ↗
verb

simple past and past participle of heat

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

Either an alternative spelling of het (“heated”), a continuation of late Middle English heet, het (an analogical simple past of heten (“to heat”) created on the basis of bet, the past tense of beten (“to beat”)), or a later analogical formation from the past forms of beten's modern reflex beat.

Relationships mentioned by the source

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

  • Inherited-form mentionheetenm
Inspect preserved source fields

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

{
  "templates": [
    {
      "name": "etymid",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "heated"
      },
      "expansion": ""
    },
    {
      "name": "inh",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "enm",
        "3": "heet"
      },
      "expansion": "Middle English heet"
    },
    {
      "name": "glossary",
      "args": {
        "1": "reflex"
      },
      "expansion": "reflex"
    }
  ],
  "links": [
    [
      "het",
      "het#English:_heated"
    ],
    [
      "heet",
      "heet#Middle_English"
    ],
    [
      "het",
      "het#English"
    ],
    [
      "heten",
      "heten#Middle_English:_to_heat"
    ],
    [
      "bet",
      "bet#English"
    ],
    [
      "beten",
      "beten#Middle_English:_to_beat"
    ],
    [
      "beten",
      "beten#Middle_English"
    ],
    [
      "beat",
      "beat#English"
    ]
  ],
  "references": [],
  "descendants": [],
  "lexical": [
    {
      "pos": "verb",
      "glosses": [
        "simple past and past participle of heat"
      ],
      "tags": [
        "dialectal",
        "form-of",
        "obsolete",
        "participle",
        "past"
      ],
      "recordId": "9e155780edfcea855bc363b81ea026029ab927bad8f3a93aff9b59faab202155",
      "rawRecordSha256": "54b44eeb868691eeb37ca82eebe8170b22d98d46f78054eeb876030abf1539fe",
      "sourceRecordOrdinal": 150242
    }
  ],
  "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 heat →

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-aGVhdA