De Vaan proposes an old locative singular of*h₁et-,[1][2] reflected inSanskritअत्(at,“to go”), as he explains “Originally used to add something to a previous utterance, or to indicate the sequence of different actions”. Compare*h₂énti and*h₁épi/*h₁ópi for similar derivations of particles in*-i. Beekes and Derksen give the same etymology provided by De Vaan.[3][4] Ringe, however, reconstructs it as*éti.[5]
Alternatively, Dunkel prefers a derivation from*e- +*-ti(ablative suffix) as "from there" > "beyond".[6]
↑1.01.1De Vaan, Michiel (2008), “et”, inEtymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 7), Leiden, Boston: Brill,→ISBN,page195
^Schrijver, Peter (1991) The Reflexes of the Proto-Indo-European Laryngeals in Latin, in Leiden Studies in Indo-European, Volume: 2, page 36
^Derksen, Rick (2015), “at”, inEtymological Dictionary of the Baltic Inherited Lexicon (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series;13), Leiden, Boston: Brill,→ISBN,pages65-66
↑5.05.1Ringe, Donald (2006),From Proto-Indo-European to Proto-Germanic (A Linguistic History of English; 1)[1], Oxford: Oxford University Press,→ISBN,page104
^Adams, Douglas Q. (2013), “ate”, inA Dictionary of Tocharian B: Revised and Greatly Enlarged (Leiden Studies in Indo-European;10), Amsterdam, New York: Rodopi,→ISBN,page10
