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progress

Etymology and origin of the English word progress

History Permalink
Confidence
Established
Formation
Borrowing
First attested
c. 1425
Borrowed from
Latin progressus via Middle English
Ultimate origin
Latin (gradior)

Pronunciation

  • IPA: noun UK /ˈprəʊ.ɡres/, US /ˈprɑː.ɡres/; verb /prəˈɡres/[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English progresse,[2][3] borrowed from Latin prōgressus (“an advance, a going forward”),[2][4] partly through Old French progres,[5] from the past participle of prōgredī (“to go forward”),[5][2] from prō- (“forward”) and gradī (“to step, walk”),[5][2][6] from gradus (“a step”),[4][5] from Proto-Indo-European *ghredh- (“to walk, go”).[5] The verb is from the noun.[2][5] Latin gradī is also in regress, aggression and ingredient.[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

Course or process, forward movement: probably before 1425, in a translation of Higden's Polychronicon,[2] the early 15th century in Etymonline;[5] the OED's figurative use is from 1432–50.[7]

Semantic evolution

In early English it was used especially of a state journey by a sovereign or noble,[5][2] from 1461[7] (about 1450 in Barnhart),[2] and of a military march before 1460.[2] The figurative sense of growth and advancement to higher stages is from 1603,[2][7] though the senses are hard to tell apart in earlier texts.[5] In progress, “under way”, is from 1849 and keeps the older neutral sense of “a course”, as in Hogarth's Rake's Progress.[5] Progress report is from 1865.[5] The verb, “to journey”, is from about 1590,[2][7] and “to advance” from 1595, in Shakespeare's King John.[2][7] It fell out of use in England in the 18th century but was kept or formed again in America, and on its return to Britain about 1800 it was long thought an Americanism.[4][5][8]

Timeline

  • c. 1425 – noun, course, forward movement.[2]
  • 1461 – a royal state journey.[7]
  • c. 1590 – verb, to journey.[2][7]
  • 1595 – verb, to advance.[2][7]
  • 1603 – advancement, development.[2][7]
  • c. 1800 – the verb readopted in Britain from America.[4]
  • 1849 – in progress.[5]
  • 1865 – progress report.[5]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. Forward movement towards a goal or destination.
  2. Development or improvement, as of a society or a person's work.
  3. (historical) A ceremonial journey by a sovereign through the realm.

Verb

  1. To move forward; to proceed.
  2. To develop or improve steadily.

Word family

  • progressist
  • work in progress
  • congress
  • egress
  • ingress
  • regress
  • retrogress
  • grade
  • progressive
  • progressivism
  • progression
  • aggression
  • ingredient
  • degree

References

  1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  3. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  4. ^ a b c d Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  6. ^ a b Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h i Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  8. ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Progress.” Etymologically, 15 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/en/progress. Accessed 15 Oct. 2026.

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