Where does “absurd” come from?
Absurd comes from Middle French absurde, from Latin absurdus, literally meaning "out of tune" or "discordant," derived from Latin ab meaning "away from" combined with a root from Proto-Indo-European h₂epó.
absurd (English): Contrary to reason or propriety; obviously and...
Definitions
- Contrary to reason or propriety; obviously and...
Ancestry of “absurd”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Middle French | absurde | — |
| 2 | Latin | absurdus | discordant, harsh; incongruous, inconsistent,... |
| 3 | Latin | absonus | harsh, discordant; unsuitable, incongruous |
| 4 | Latin | -sonus | — |
| 5 | Latin | -us | suffix forming adjectives from nouns, verbs,... |
| 6 | Old Latin | -os | accusative masculine plural of -us |
| 7 | Proto-Italic | -os | — |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | -ós | Creates agent nouns from verb stems, denoting... |