Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “novelty” come from?

Novelty comes from Old French novelté, derived from Old French novel, from Latin novellus meaning "new," with the suffix Latin -itas forming abstract nouns, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European néwos and gʷeih₃w-.

novelty (English): The state of being new or novel; newness; A new...

Definitions

  1. The state of being new or novel; newness; A new...

Ancestry of “novelty”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Old Frenchnovelténovelty
2Old Frenchnovelnew
3Latinnovellusnew, young, fresh; novel, newly made
4Latin-ellusAlternative form of -ulus; "forming masculine...
5Latin-ulusUsed to form a diminutive of a noun, indicating...
6Proto-Italic-olos—
7Proto-Italic-elos—
8Proto-Indo-European-e-lós—
9Proto-Indo-European-lósForms agent nouns from verbal roots
Every word from Proto-Indo-European -lós →