Etymology Explorer › English

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

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1English-ageforming nouns with the sense of collection or...
2Middle English-ageForms nouns indicating a right or relationship;...
3Old French-ageforms nouns with the sense of 'action or result...
4Old Occitan-atgesuffix used to form masculine nouns
5Latin-āticum—

Words derived from “average”

  • averagely
  • subaverage
  • averageness
  • averager
  • unaverage
  • averageable
  • deaverage
  • gyroaverage
  • average
Every word from Latin -āticum →