Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “nostalgia” come from?

Nostalgia comes from New Latin nostalgia, composed of Ancient Greek νόστος and the suffix -τος, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European -tós.

nostalgia (English): A longing for home or familiar surroundings;...

Definitions

  1. A longing for home or familiar surroundings;...

Ancestry of “nostalgia”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1New Latinnostalgia—
2Ancient Greekνόστοςthe act of reaching a place: journey, arrival;...
3Ancient Greek-τοςCreates perfective passive verbal adjectives;...
4Proto-Indo-European-tósCreates verbal adjectives from verb stems

Words derived from “nostalgia”

  • nostalgic
  • nostalgically
  • nostalgist
  • nostalgize
  • Yugo-nostalgia
Every word from Proto-Indo-European -tós →