Where does “government” come from?
Government comes from Middle English governement, from Old French governement, combining Old French governer with the suffix -ment, from Latin -mentum, derived from Latin mens meaning mind, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European méntis and men-.
government (English): The body with the power to make and/or enforce...
Definitions
- The body with the power to make and/or enforce...
Ancestry of “government”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | Middle English | governement | The action of governing; a method of control; A... |
| 2 | Old French | governement | government |
| 3 | Old French | -ment | Used to form adverbs, most of the time equivalent... |
| 4 | Latin | -mentum | instrument, medium, or result of; e.g.... |
| 5 | Latin | -menta | nominative plural of -mentum; accusative plural... |
| 6 | Proto-Indo-European | -mn̥ | Creates action nouns or result nouns from verbs |
Words derived from “government”