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suggestion

Etymology and origin of the English word suggestion

History Permalink
Confidence
Established
Formation
Borrowing
First attested
before 1340
Borrowed from
Anglo-Norman suggestioun
Ultimate origin
Latin (gero)

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /səˈd͡ʒɛst.ʃən/ (UK); /sə(ɡ)ˈd͡ʒɛs.t͡ʃən/ (US)[1]

Etymology

It is Middle English suggestioun, borrowed from Anglo-Norman suggestioun (“hint; temptation”) and directly suggestio (“an addition, intimation”),[2][3][4] from suggerere (“to bring up, supply, prompt”) (see suggest), from sub- (“under, up from below”) and gerere (“to bring, carry”).[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

A prompting or incitement to evil, a temptation of the Devil: before 1340 in the OED, the mid-14th century in Etymonline.[5][2][6]

Semantic evolution

Word Origins notes that the sense soon broadened to a proposal or thought put forward.[6] Prompting someone to a course of action is from 1382,[5] and placing an idea before the mind as a possibility from the late 14th century.[2] A false or underhand statement is from about 1375.[5] The bringing of one idea to mind by association with another is from about 1600,[2] and in hypnotism, implanting a belief or impulse in someone's mind, from 1887.[2][5] Etymonline notes that the old idea of evil prompting survives in the euphemistic suggestive.[2]

Timeline

  • before 1340 – a temptation to evil.[5]
  • 1382 – a prompting to act.[5]
  • late 14th century – a proposal.[2]
  • c. 1600 – association of ideas.[2]
  • 1887 – in hypnotism.[2][5]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. An idea or plan put forward for consideration; a proposal.
  2. A slight trace or hint: a suggestion of a smile.
  3. (psychology) The process of implanting an idea or belief in someone's mind, as under hypnosis.

Word family

  • autosuggestion
  • countersuggestion
  • nonsuggestion
  • self-suggestion
  • posthypnotic suggestion
  • suggest
  • suggestive
  • gesture
  • digest
  • congestion

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  3. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  4. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  5. ^ a b c d e f g Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ a b Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Suggestion.” Etymologically, 16 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/en/suggestion. Accessed 16 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·