prolongation

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English prolongacioun,^[2][3] borrowed from Old French prolongacion, also porlongacion,^[4][3][2] with Anglo-Norman prolongacione,^[4] and directly borrowed from Late Latin prōlongātiō,^{[4][3][2][5][6]} recorded from the 4th or 5th century.^[4] The Latin noun is formed from the past participle stem of prōlongō (“to prolong, extend”) and the suffix -iō,^[4][3] and the verb is from Latin prō (“forth”) and longus (“long”).^[3] It is the noun of prolong,^[6] and the same elements gave purloin.^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Lengthening, both in space and in time: before 1425, in manuscripts of a translation of Guy de Chauliac's Grande Chirurgie, where one has prolongacioun, i. lengthyng.^[4][2] Etymonline dates the word to the late 14th century, as "condition of being extended",^[3] and Dictionary.com only to 1480–90.^[5]

Semantic evolution

French had already used the noun for extension in time (about 1265), in space (1314) and for deferment, the last in Anglo-Norman by 1399 or earlier,^[4] and Latin for postponement.^[4] The sense "delay, postponement", found in Lydgate's Fall of Princes before 1439,^[4][2] was still alive for Johnson (1755), who gave "the act of lengthening" and "delay to a longer time", both from Bacon,^[7] but the OED's last record is of 1793.^[4] From 1589, in Puttenham, the word was used of lengthening a syllable or note,^[4] and since 1848 of extending scope or range.^[4][8] In 1849 prolongations was a humorous word for trousers.^[4]

Timeline

• before 1425 – linear extension; lengthening in time.^[4][2]
• before 1439 – delay, postponement (obsolete by 1793).^[4]
• 1589 – the lengthening of a syllable or sound.^[4]
• 1848 – extension of scope or range.^[4]
• 1849 – in the plural, humorously, trousers.^[4]

Meanings

Noun

1. A lengthening in time; extending how long something lasts: Doctors weighed the prolongation of her treatment.^[9][4][8]
2. A lengthening in space; a part added that makes something longer.^[4][9]
3. The drawing out of a spoken syllable, note or sound.^[9][4]
4. An extension in scope or range; a continuation.^[9][4][8]
5. (obsolete, before 1439–1793) Delay or postponement.^[4][2][7]

Word family

• nonprolongation

Related words

• prolong
• prolongate
• long
• purloin

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
3. ^ a b c d e f g Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ a b Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
6. ^ a b Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
7. ^ a b Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
8. ^ a b c Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
9. ^ a b c d Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster