Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “commentary” come from?

Commentary comes from Middle French commentaire, from Latin commentarius, derived from the verb commentor (to compose, devise), itself from comminiscor (to devise, invent), ultimately rooted in the prefix con- meaning together.

commentary (English): a series of comments or annotations; especially,...

Definitions

  1. a series of comments or annotations; especially,...

Ancestry of “commentary”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Middle Frenchcommentaire—
2Latincommentariusmemorandum, notebook; diary, journal; a brief
3LatincommentorI consider thoroughly, think over, deliberate,...
4Latin-tor-er
5Proto-Italic-tōr—
6Proto-Indo-European-tōrDerives agent nouns from verbs, denoting someone...
7Proto-Indo-European-tor-s—

Words derived from “commentary”

  • commentarial
  • metacommentary
  • supercommentary
Every word from Proto-Indo-European -tor-s →