Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “metalanguage” come from?

Metalanguage derives from English meta- combined with language, ultimately tracing through Ancient Greek μεθίστημι and μορφή to Proto-Indo-European roots denoting standing and form.

metalanguage (English): Any language or vocabulary of specialized terms...

Definitions

  1. Any language or vocabulary of specialized terms...

Ancestry of “metalanguage”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1EnglishlanguageA body of words, and set of methods of combining...
2Middle Englishlangagelanguage, tongue, speech; dialect, idiom, local...
3Old Frenchlanguagelanguage
4Vulgar Latinlinguaticumlanguage
5Latinlinguatongue; a speech; an utterance or expression
6Latin-ularegō + API → rēgula; tegō + API → tēgula;...
7Proto-Indo-European-tlomAlternative form of *-trom
8Proto-Indo-European-tromForms nouns denoting a tool or instrument
9Proto-Indo-European-tḗrDerives agent nouns from verbs, denoting someone...

Words derived from “metalanguage”

  • metametalanguage
Every word from Proto-Indo-European -tḗr →