Etymology Explorer › English

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”

  • cat
  • cats
  • categorization
  • kitten
  • categorize
  • catfish
  • categorisation
  • subcategory
  • catwalk
  • categorise
  • copycat
  • catlike
  • catnip
  • catty
  • bobcat
  • tomcat
  • catbird
  • Kattegat
  • kittenish
  • subcategorization
  • catnap
  • cattery
  • catfight
  • recategorization
Every word from Proto-Indo-European -yeti →