Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “inertia” come from?

Inertia comes from Latin inertia, derived from Latin iners meaning sluggish or inactive, formed from Latin in- and Latin in meaning not, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European ne and Proto-Indo-European h₁én.

inertia (English): The property of a body that resists any change to...

Definitions

  1. The property of a body that resists any change to...

Ancestry of “inertia”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Latininertiawant of art or skill, unskillfulness, ignorance;...
2Latininerswithout skill, unskilled, unskillful,...
3Latinīn-—
4Latinîn—
5Latinenlookǃ beholdǃ; reallyǃ?; come onǃ
6Proto-Italicenin
7Proto-Indo-Europeanh₁énin

Words derived from “inertia”

  • inertial
  • noninertial
  • inertially
  • inertialess
  • gravitoinertial
  • microinertia
  • superinertial
  • subinertial
Every word from Proto-Indo-European h₁én →