Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “mediocre” come from?

Mediocre comes from Middle English medioker, from French médiocre, from Middle French médiocre, from Latin medius meaning middle, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European medʰi-.

mediocre (English): Having no peculiar or outstanding features; not...

Definitions

  1. Having no peculiar or outstanding features; not...

Ancestry of “mediocre”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Middle Englishmedioker—
2Frenchmédiocremediocre
3Middle Frenchmédiocre—
4Latinmediocrismiddling, moderate, medium; tolerable, ordinary,...
5Latinmediusmiddle; half; moderate
6Latinlocusplace, spot; a passage of literature; "in the...
7Old Latinstlocus—
8Proto-Italicstlokos—
9Proto-Indo-Europeanstel-to put, to place; to locate

Words derived from “mediocre”

  • mediocrely
  • mediocrist
  • mediocreness
Every word from Proto-Indo-European stel- →