Where does “nonexistence” come from?
Nonexistence derives from English existence, prefixed with non- from Latin nona, the feminine form of Latin nonus meaning ninth, which traces through Latin -ia and Ancient Greek -ία to Proto-Indo-European roots.
nonexistence (English): The state of not existing
Definitions
- The state of not existing
Ancestry of “nonexistence”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | existence | The state of being, existing, or occurring;... |
| 2 | Old French | existence | — |
| 3 | Late Latin | existentia | existence |
| 4 | Latin | existens | Alternative form of exsistens |
| 5 | Latin | existere | present active infinitive of existō |
| 6 | Latin | existo | Alternative form of exsistō; to stand forth, come... |
| 7 | Latin | ex | A name of the letter "X"; out of, from |
| 8 | Latin | commūnicō | to impart, share |
| 9 | Latin | commūnis | common, commonplace, ordinary, general, universal, shared, shared alike, of both sides, belonging to two or more together |
| 10 | Old Latin | com(m)oinis | — |
| 11 | Proto-Italic | kommoinis | common |
| 12 | Proto-Indo-European | ḱom-moy-ni- | held in common |
| 13 | Proto-Indo-European | ḱóm | beside, near, by, with |
| 14 | Proto-Indo-European | ḱe | Deictic particle, here; Post-positional... |
| 15 | Middle English | kyt | — |
| 16 | Middle Dutch | kitte | a wooden vessel made of hooped staves; wooden... |