Where does “category” come from?

Category comes from French catégorie, from Middle French categorie, from Ancient Greek κατηγορία, meaning a speaking against or accusation, derived from the verb κατηγορέω.

category (English): A group, often named or numbered, to which items...

Definitions

  1. A group, often named or numbered, to which items...

Ancestry of “category”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Frenchcatégoriecategory
2GermanKategoriecategory
3Italiancategoriacategory, topic; class
4Spanishcategoríacategory; standing, regard
5Portuguesecategoriacategory
6Late Latincategoriaclass of predicables; accusation; predicament
7Ancient Greekκατηγορίαcharge, accusation; predication, category
8Ancient Greekκατηγορέωto speak against, especially before judges, to...
9Ancient Greek-έωUsed to form verbs from nouns, adjectives and...
10Proto-Indo-European-éyetiForms causative imperfective verbs from roots;...
11Proto-Indo-European-yetiCreates transitive imperfective verbs from roots

Words derived from “category

Every word from Proto-Indo-European -yeti
category — Etymology, Origin & Word History | Etymology Explorer