enter (English)

Where does "enter" come from?

The English verb 'enter' traces its lineage through Middle English 'entren' and Old French 'entrer' back to the Latin verb 'intrō'[1]. The Latin source itself developed from 'intrā', meaning 'inside'[1], which originates from an earlier form related to the Proto-Indo-European root '*h₁énteros', meaning 'inner, what is inside'[5]. The root further traces back to the Proto-Indo-European base '*terh₂-'

Open questions

• The early Latin form '*interus' is reconstructed from Proto-Indo-European. [5]

Full etymology tree

• enter (English), 'To go or come into an enclosed or partially enclosed space.'
  • inherited entren (Middle English), 'To enter (to move into an enclosed or demarcated space)'
    • borrowed entrer (Anglo-Norman)
      • derived intrare (Latin), 'inflection of intrō:'
        • derived intro (Latin), 'to enter, go into, come in, get in, penetrate'
          • derived intra (Latin), 'within; inside'
            • derived *interus (Proto-Italic)
              • derived *h₁énteros (Proto-Indo-European), 'inside, within'

Ancestors

• *terh₂- (Proto-Indo-European)
• entren (Middle English)
• entrer (Old French)
• intro (Latin)

Descendants and derived words

• abandon hope, all ye who enter here (English)
• all hope abandon ye who enter here (English)
• break and enter (English)
• break and enter (English)
• breaking and entering (English)
• breaking and entering (English)
• do not enter (English)
• enterable (English)
• enterer (English)
• entering tone (English)
• enter into (English)
• enter into the equation (English)

Sources

1. enter (English) - Wiktionary
2. intro (Latin) - Wiktionary
3. entrer (Old French) - Wiktionary
4. entren (Middle English) - Wiktionary
5. intra (Latin) - Wiktionary

Updated August 2026

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Etymology data from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · About Miraris