Where does “gratuity” come from?
Gratuity comes from Old French gratuite, derived from Latin gratuitas, itself formed from the Latin adjective gratuitus meaning "given freely," which stems from Latin gratus meaning "pleasing" or "agreeable," ultimately from Proto-Indo-European gʷerH-.
gratuity (English): An additional payment given freely as thanks for...
Definitions
- An additional payment given freely as thanks for...
Ancestry of “gratuity”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | French | gratuité | gratuity; freebie |
| 2 | Old French | gratuite | — |
| 3 | Latin | gratuitas | gift; favour |
| 4 | Latin | grātuītus | freely given, free, gratuitous |
| 5 | Latin | grātia | grace |
| 6 | Latin | -ia | Used to form a feminine abstract noun, usually... |
| 7 | Latin | -ius | forming adjectives from nouns; nominative neuter... |
| 8 | Proto-Italic | -jōs | Forms comparative adjectives |
| 9 | Proto-Indo-European | -yós | Creates adjectives from noun or verb stems |