Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “mundane” come from?

Mundane comes from Middle English mondeyne, from Old French mondain, from Late Latin mundanus, from Latin mundus meaning "world," with the suffix -um/-us/-os/-os tracing back through Old Latin and Proto-Italic.

mundane (English): Worldly, earthly, profane, vulgar as opposed to...

Definitions

  1. Worldly, earthly, profane, vulgar as opposed to...

Ancestry of “mundane”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Middle Englishmondeyne—
2Old Frenchmondain—
3Late Latinmundanusworldly, mundane; cosmopolitan
4Latinmundusclean, pure; neat; nice, fine, elegant,...
5Proto-Indo-EuropeanmewH-to wash, wet; to make wet, wash; wet

Words derived from “mundane”

  • supramundane
  • mundanity
  • mundanely
  • supermundane
  • extramundane
  • transmundane
  • mundaneness
  • antemundane
  • intramundane
  • intermundane
  • nonmundane
  • mundie
  • inframundane
  • unmundane
  • submundane
  • mundania
  • circummundane
Every word from Proto-Indo-European mewH- →