Etymologically
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proceed

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 16 October 2026 at 13:19. This address is a permanent link to this version.
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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /pɹəˈsiːd/ (UK); /pɹəˈsid/, /ˈpɹoʊsid/ (US)[1]

Etymology

It is Middle English proceden, borrowed from Old French proceder and directly borrowed from Latin prōcēdere (“to go forward, advance”),[2][3][4] from pro (“forward”) and cēdere (“to go”),[3][5][6] from PIE Proto-Indo-European *ked- (“to go, yield”).[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

To spread or continue; to come or result from: about 1380, in Chaucer.[2][3] The OED has to go on with an action from about 1400.[7]

Semantic evolution

To go or travel forward is from about 1430,[7] and to begin and carry on a legal action from about 1440.[7] To emanate from a source is late 14th-century.[3] A noun proceed, the manner of proceeding, is from 1628 and obsolete;[7] proceeds, what results from something, especially money from a sale, is from 1643.[7][8]

Timeline

  • c. 1380 – to continue; to result from.[2]
  • c. 1430 – to go forward.[7]
  • c. 1440 – to take legal action.[7]
  • 1643 – proceeds (noun).[7]

Modern meaning

Verb

  1. To begin or continue a course of action.
  2. To go forward or onward, especially after stopping.
  3. (law) To start a legal action against someone.
  4. To come forth as from a source; to originate.

Word family

  • proceeder

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  3. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  5. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  8. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press