entry
narrate
/ˈnæreɪt/Tell or recount events in detailed sequence
From Proto-Indo-European *gno- (to know).
from PIE root *gno- "to know." "Richardson and Johnson call it Scottish" [OED], a stigma which kept it
from Latin narratus, past participle of narrare "to tell, relate, recount,"
Word Ancestry
from PIE root *gno- "to know." "Richardson and Johnson call it Scottish" [OED], a stigma which kept it
from Latin narratus, past participle of narrare "to tell, relate, recount,"
A narrator is, at root, someone who knows: the ancient connection runs from Proto-Indo-European *gno-, “to know,” into Latin narrare, “to tell.” Latin speakers used narratus for something “told” or “recounted,” and English eventually turned that form into narrate. The verb is recorded in English by 1656, but for centuries it carried an awkward social label: eighteenth-century authorities Richardson and Johnson called it Scottish, which helped keep it unfashionable until the nineteenth century. Its relatives make the family resemblance clearer—knowledge becomes narration when what you know is arranged into a story. So when you narrate, you are not merely talking; you are turning knowledge into a sequence someone else can follow.
The Story
A narrator is, at root, someone who knows: the ancient connection runs from Proto-Indo-European *gno-, “to know,” into Latin narrare, “to tell.” Latin speakers used narratus for something “told” or “recounted,” and English eventually turned that form into narrate. The verb is recorded in English by 1656, but for centuries it carried an awkward social label: eighteenth-century authorities Richardson and Johnson called it Scottish, which helped keep it unfashionable until the nineteenth century. Its relatives make the family resemblance clearer—knowledge becomes narration when what you know is arranged into a story. So when you narrate, you are not merely talking; you are turning knowledge into a sequence someone else can follow.
Kin & Kindred
From '*gno-'·to know
Derived Terms
English words from this root