Where does “nugatory” come from?
Nugatory comes from Latin nugatorius, formed from the agentive suffix -tor and the suffix -torius, ultimately deriving from Proto-Indo-European -tōr and -yós.
nugatory (English): Trivial, trifling or of little importance;...
Definitions
- Trivial, trifling or of little importance;...
Ancestry of “nugatory”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Latin | nugatorius | nugatory, trifling; worthless, useless |
| 2 | Latin | nugator | jester, joker; second-person singular future... |
| 3 | Latin | -tor | -er |
| 4 | Proto-Italic | -tōr | Forms agent nouns to verb stems |
| 5 | Proto-Indo-European | -tōr | Derives agent nouns from verbs, denoting someone... |
| 6 | Proto-Indo-European | -tor-s | — |