Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “narrative” come from?

Narrative comes from Middle French narratif, from Latin narrativus, derived from Latin narro, traced to Proto-Italic gnārāō and ultimately Proto-Indo-European ǵneh₃-.

narrative (English): Telling a story; Overly talkative; garrulous; Of...

Definitions

  1. Telling a story; Overly talkative; garrulous; Of...

Ancestry of “narrative”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Middle Frenchnarratif—
2Latinnārrātīvus—
3LatinnarroI narrate, recount; I report; I tell, speak
4Latinnārō—
5Proto-ItalicgnārāōI make known, I tell; to make known, tell
6Proto-Indo-Europeanǵn̥h₃ro-—
7Proto-Indo-Europeanǵneh₃-to know

Words derived from “narrative”

  • metanarrative
  • narrativity
  • narratively
  • counternarrative
  • narrativization
  • nonnarrative
  • narrativize
  • antinarrative
  • subnarrative
  • micronarrative
  • narrativise
  • pseudonarrative
  • multinarrative
  • narreme
  • narrativeless
  • denarrativize
  • seminarrative
  • denarrativization
  • semionarrative
  • narremic
  • self-narrative
  • cybernarrative
  • нарратив
Every word from Proto-Indo-European ǵneh₃- →