Where does “grammar” come from?
Grammar comes from Middle English gramery, from Old French gramaire, from Latin grammatica, derived from Ancient Greek γράμμα meaning "letter" or "written character."
grammar (English): A system of rules and principles for speaking and...
Definitions
- A system of rules and principles for speaking and...
Ancestry of “grammar”, step by step
grammar traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via Middle English gramer
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Middle English | gramer | grammar; Latin |
| 2 | Old French | gramaire | grammar; grimoire; magician; conjuror |
| 3 | Vulgar Latin | *grammāria | — |
| 4 | Latin | grammatica | grammar, philology; ablative singular of... |
| 5 | Latin | grammaticus | of or pertaining to the study of language, of... |
| 6 | Ancient Greek | γραμματικός | knowing one’s letters, of a good scholar;... |
| 7 | Ancient Greek | γράμμα | that which is written, that which is drawn,... |
| 8 | Ancient Greek | γράφω | to scratch, cut into; to draw, sketch, paint; to... |
| 9 | Proto-Hellenic | grəpʰō | to scratch, cut or carve into |
| 10 | Proto-Indo-European | gerbʰ- | to carve |
| 11 | Proto-Indo-European | ger- | to turn, bend, twist, wind; to tie, bind... |
via Middle English gramere
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Middle English | gramere | grammar |