respect (English)
Where does "respect" come from?
The English word 'respect' comes from Middle English 'respect', which was borrowed from Old French 'respect'[1]. Behind the French term lies the Latin noun 'respectus', meaning 'a looking at, regard, respect'[1]. This Latin noun was formed from the verb 'respiciō', 'to look back upon' or 'respect'[1], created by joining the prefix 're-', meaning 'back', to 'speciō', 'to see' or 'observe'[1][3]. Ultimately, this verb traces back through Proto-Italic to the Proto-Indo-European root '*speḱ-', which also centers on seeing[4].
Open questions
- The earliest ancestral forms in Proto-Italic and Proto-Indo-European are reconstructed based on linguistic comparison rather than written records. [4]
Full etymology tree
- respect (English), 'hello, hi'
- inherited respect (Middle English)
- borrowed respect (Old French)
- borrowed respectus (Latin), 'respected'
- derived respicio (Latin), 'to look behind, look back at or upon, look to, look around'
- prefix re- (Latin), 'back, backwards'
- affix specio (Latin), 'to observe, watch, look at'
- inherited *spekjō (Proto-Italic), 'to observe, see'
- inherited *spéḱyeti (Proto-Indo-European), 'to be looking at, to keep looking at'
- inherited *spekjō (Proto-Italic), 'to observe, see'
- derived respicio (Latin), 'to look behind, look back at or upon, look to, look around'
- borrowed respectus (Latin), 'respected'
- borrowed respect (Old French)
- inherited respect (Middle English)
Ancestors
- *speḱ- (Proto-Indo-European)
- respectus (Latin)
Cognates and doublets
- respite (English)
Sources
- respect (English) - Wiktionary
- respectus (Latin) - Wiktionary
- respicio (Latin) - Wiktionary
- specio (Latin) - Wiktionary
Updated October 2026
Etymology data from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · About Miraris