Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “lasciviousness” come from?

Lasciviousness comes from Middle English -nesse combined with Latin lascivia, derived from Latin lascivus, ultimately tracing to Proto-Indo-European las- and Proto-Germanic -inōną.

lasciviousness (English): The state or characteristic of being lascivious

Definitions

  1. The state or characteristic of being lascivious

Ancestry of “lasciviousness”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1English-nessAppended to adjectives to form nouns meaning "the...
2Middle English-nesseAffixed to adjectives to form abstract nouns...
3Old English-nesUsed to form abstract nouns, usually from...
4Proto-West Germanic-nassīUsed to form abstract nouns, usually from...
5Proto-Germanic-inassuz-ness
6Proto-West Germanic-ī-ness, -th
7Proto-Germanic-į̄-th
8Proto-Indo-European-íh₂—
9Proto-Indo-European-h₂Creates collective nouns, which refer to groups...
Every word from Proto-Indo-European -h₂ →