Where does “average” come from?

Average derives from Middle English aver, from Old French avarie, combining aver (to have) with the suffix -age, ultimately from Latin -aticus and -icus.

average (English): The arithmetic mean; Any measure of central...

Definitions

  1. The arithmetic mean; Any measure of central...

Ancestry of “average”, step by step

average traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.

via Middle French avarie

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Middle Frenchavarie—
2Old Frenchavariedamage done to goods on a watercraft when they...
3Old Italianavaria—

via Middle English average

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Middle Englishaverage—

Words derived from “average”

Every word from Old Italian avaria →Every word from Old French avarie →Every word from Middle French avarie →