Where does “inventory” come from?
Inventory comes from Middle English inventorie, from Old French inventoire, from Late Latin inventarium, a derivative of the suffix -arium denoting a place or collection, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European gʷem- meaning to go or come.
inventory (English): The stock of an item on hand at a particular...
Definitions
- The stock of an item on hand at a particular...
Ancestry of “inventory”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Middle English | inventorie | — |
| 2 | Old French | inventoire | — |
| 3 | Late Latin | inventarium | a list, inventory |
| 4 | Latin | inveniō | to find |
| 5 | Latin | veniō | to come (to a place), come in, arrive, reach |
| 6 | Proto-Italic | gʷenjō | to come |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | gʷm̥yéti | to come |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | -yéti | Creates intransitive, often deponent,... |
| 9 | Proto-Indo-European | yé- | — |
| 10 | Chichewa | iye | he, she |