Where does “equivalent” come from?
Equivalent comes from English -valent, English -i-, English -y, Middle English -y, Middle French -ie, Latin -ia, Latin -ivus, and Latin -ia, ultimately denoting a quality or state.
equivalent (English): Similar or identical in value, meaning or effect;...
Definitions
- Similar or identical in value, meaning or effect;...
Ancestry of “equivalent”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | -valent | Having one or more valences |
| 2 | English | Valence | The number of arguments that a verb can have, including its subject, ranging from zero to three or, less commonly, four |
| 3 | French | Valence | valence |
| 4 | Latin | Valentia | health, vigour, bodily strength |
| 5 | Latin | -ia | Used to form a feminine abstract noun, usually... |
| 6 | Latin | -ius | forming adjectives from nouns; nominative neuter... |
| 7 | Proto-Italic | -jōs | Forms comparative adjectives |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | -yós | Creates adjectives from noun or verb stems |