adhere

Where does the word "adhere" come from? It comes from Latin haerere, passing through Latin before entering English (1400s).

Adhere’s story begins in Latin: haerere meant “to stick, to cling.” To stick, to cling, combined with ad- (to). Within Latin, it grew into adhaerere by ancient. To stick to, from ad- and haerere. It reached English by 1400s as adhere. First recorded in 1461 in the Rolls of Parliament under Edward IV, as Latin legal vocabulary passed into English records. Today, adhere means to stick firmly to a surface, or to closely follow a rule or belief.

1. Stage 1 · Latin · ancient haerere "to stick, to cling", to stick, to cling, combined with ad- (to).
2. Stage 2 · Latin · ancient adhaerere "to stick to", to stick to, from ad- and haerere.
3. Stage 3 · English · 1400s adhere "to stick firmly to a surface, or to follow a rule closely", first recorded in 1461 in the Rolls of Parliament under Edward IV, as Latin legal vocabulary passed into English records.