quarantine (English)

Where does "quarantine" come from?

The English word 'quarantine' traces its roots back to the Latin 'quadrāgintā', which means 'four tens' or '40'[1]. This numerical foundation evolved through the Late Latin '*quaranta'[1] and eventually reached the Italian 'quarantina' and 'quarantena', which referred to a 40 day period[1][3]. The term entered English via various routes including Middle English 'quarentine', Norman 'quarenteine', and French 'quarenteine'[1]. Initially associated with a 40 day isolation period for medical purposes, the word later expanded into political contexts, notably appearing in the United States during the 1937 approach to the Axis powers and the 1962 Cuban missile crisis[1].

Open questions

• The derivation from the unattested Late Latin *quaranta remains a reconstruction based on the evolution of the Italian and French terms. [1] [5] [6]
• The etymological connection between the Proto-Indo-European root for ten and the potential meaning related to hand is not definitively established. [10]

Full etymology tree

• quarantine (English), 'To place into isolation to prevent the spread of any contagious disease.'
  • inherited quarentine (Middle English)
    • inherited quarenteine (Norman)
      • inherited quarenteine (French)
        • borrowed quarantina (Italian), 'approximately forty'
          • derived quarentena (Medieval Latin)
            • compound quarranta (Late Latin)
              • inherited quadraginta (Latin), 'forty; 40'
                • inherited *kʷétwr̥dḱomt (Proto-Indo-European), 'forty'
                  • compound *kʷetwr̥- (Proto-Indo-European), 'four, fourfold'
                  • compound *déḱm̥ (Proto-Indo-European), 'ten'
                    • derived *ḱómt (Proto-Indo-European)
            • compound -ēna (Latin)

Ancestors

• quarantina (Italian)
• quadraginta (Latin)
• quarantaine (French)

Descendants and derived words

• quarantinable (English)
• quarantined (English)
• quarantined (English)
• quarantiner (English)
• requarantine (English)
• self-quarantine (English)
• self-quarantine (English)
• unquarantine (English)

Sources

1. quarantine (English) - Wiktionary
2. quarantaine (French) - Wiktionary
3. quarantina (Italian) - Wiktionary
4. quadraginta (Latin) - Wiktionary
5. quarante (French) - Wiktionary
6. quaranta (Italian) - Wiktionary
7. quarantena (Italian) - Wiktionary
8. kʷétwr̥dḱomt (Proto-Indo-European) - Wiktionary
9. quarante (Old French) - Wiktionary
10. déḱm̥ (Proto-Indo-European) - Wiktionary

Updated August 2026

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