Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “internal” come from?

Internal comes from Middle English internall, from Medieval Latin internalis, from Latin inter meaning "between" combined with -alis, ultimately deriving from Proto-Indo-European welH-.

internal (English): inside of something; within the body; concerned...

Definitions

  1. inside of something; within the body; concerned...

Ancestry of “internal”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Middle Englishinternall—
2Latininternālis—
3Latininternusinward, internal; domestic, civil, internal
4Latininterbetween, among; during, while
5Proto-Indo-Europeanh₁entérbetween
6Proto-Indo-Europeanh₁enin; in, inside

Words derived from “internal”

  • internally
  • internalization
  • internalize
  • internalisation
  • internalist
  • internalism
  • internalise
  • internality
  • internalistic
  • internalistically
  • internalizer
  • reinternalization
  • noninternal
  • reinternalize
  • internalness
  • overinternalize
  • antero-internal
Every word from Proto-Indo-European h₁en →