admonish (English)
Where does "admonish" come from?
Admonish can be traced back to the Proto-Indo-European root meaning "to think," which evolved into the Latin word 'admoneo,' meaning to remind or warn. This Latin term traveled through Old French as 'amonester' before entering Middle English as 'admonesten.' Over time, the word's meaning shifted from simply bringing something to mind to the more serious act of giving advice or a formal rebuke.
Full etymology tree
- admonish (English), 'To inform or notify of a fault; to rebuke in a serious tone; to tell off.'
- inherited from admonesten (Middle English)
- borrowed from amonester (Old French), 'to admonish (to warn)'
- inherited from *admonestrāre (Late Latin)
- derived from admoneō (Latin), 'to remind, recall to the mind, make remember'
- prefix ad- (Latin), 'to'
- inherited from *ad- (Proto-Italic), 'ad-'
- inherited from *h₂éd (Proto-Indo-European), 'to, at'
- inherited from *ad- (Proto-Italic), 'ad-'
- compound of moneō (Latin), 'to warn, to advise'
- inherited from *monejō (Proto-Italic)
- inherited from *monéyeti (Proto-Indo-European), 'to cause to think, make think'
- derived from *men- (Proto-Indo-European), 'to think, mind'
- suffix *-eyeti (Proto-Indo-European)
- inherited from *monéyeti (Proto-Indo-European), 'to cause to think, make think'
- inherited from *monejō (Proto-Italic)
- prefix ad- (Latin), 'to'
- derived from admoneō (Latin), 'to remind, recall to the mind, make remember'
- inherited from *admonestrāre (Late Latin)
- borrowed from amonester (Old French), 'to admonish (to warn)'
- inherited from admonesten (Middle English)
Direct ancestors
Updated April 2026
Etymology data from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · About Miraris