Where does “irregularity” come from?
Irregularity comes from Middle French irrégularité, from Latin irregularitas (formed from in- "not" plus rego "to rule" plus the noun-forming suffix -tas), ultimately deriving from Proto-Indo-European h₁én.
irregularity (English): An instance of being irregular; The state or...
Definitions
- An instance of being irregular; The state or...
Ancestry of “irregularity”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Middle French | irrégularité | — |
| 2 | Latin | irregularitas | irregularity |
| 3 | Latin | irrēgulāris | irregular, unusual |
| 4 | Latin | rēgulāris | ductile (able to be formed into a bar) |
| 5 | Latin | rēgula | rule, bar |
| 6 | Latin | -ula | regō + API → rēgula; tegō + API → tēgula;... |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | -tlom | Alternative form of *-trom |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | -trom | Forms nouns denoting a tool or instrument |
| 9 | Proto-Indo-European | -tḗr | Derives agent nouns from verbs, denoting someone... |