Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “deviance” come from?

Deviance comes from French déviance, a formation from the French verb dévier meaning to deviate or turn aside.

deviance (English): Actions or behaviors that violate formal and...

Definitions

  1. Actions or behaviors that violate formal and...

Ancestry of “deviance”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Frenchdéviancedeviance; anomaly
2French-ance-ance
3Old French-ance-ance
4Latin-iaUsed to form a feminine abstract noun, usually...
5Latin-iusforming adjectives from nouns; nominative neuter...
6Proto-Italic-jōsForms comparative adjectives
7Proto-Indo-European-yósCreates adjectives from noun or verb stems
Every word from Proto-Indo-European -yós →