Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “banality” come from?

Banality comes from French banalité, derived from French banal, from Latin -alis and Latin -itas suffixes ultimately tracing to Proto-Indo-European bʰeh₂-.

banality (English): The quality of being banal; Something which is...

Definitions

  1. The quality of being banal; Something which is...

Ancestry of “banality”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Frenchbanalitébanality
2French-itéAlternative form of -té, giving a quality or...
3Latin-īta—
4Ancient Greek-ίτηςSuffix forming a masculine noun: one connected...
5Ancient Greekπολῑ́τηςcitizen
6Ancient Greek-τηςForms nouns representing a state of being; Added...
7Proto-Hellenic-tāts—
8Proto-Indo-European-teh₂tsUsed to form nouns representing state of being
9Proto-Indo-European-teh₂Used to form nouns representing state of being
10Proto-Indo-European-tósCreates verbal adjectives from verb stems
Every word from Proto-Indo-European -tós →