Where does “lenity” come from?
Lenity comes from Middle French lénité, from Latin lenitas, a noun formed from the Latin adjective lenitus using the suffix -tas, ultimately derived from Proto-Indo-European -teh₂.
lenity (English): leniency; mercy; forgiveness
Definitions
- leniency; mercy; forgiveness
Ancestry of “lenity”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Middle French | lénité | — |
| 2 | Latin | lenitas | softness, smoothness; gentleness, mildness,... |
| 3 | Latin | -tās | ty, -dom, -hood, -ness, -ship |
| 4 | Proto-Indo-European | -teh₂ts | Used to form nouns representing state of being |
| 5 | Proto-Indo-European | -teh₂ | Used to form nouns representing state of being |
| 6 | Proto-Indo-European | -tós | Creates verbal adjectives from verb stems |