Where does “optional” come from?
Optional comes from English option and the Latin suffix -ivus, derived from Latin optare meaning "to choose," with the adjective-forming suffix -ivus.
optional (English): Not compulsory; left to personal choice;...
Definitions
- Not compulsory; left to personal choice;...
Ancestry of “optional”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | option | One of a set of choices that can be made; The... |
| 2 | French | option | option |
| 3 | Latin | optiō | choosing, choice, preference, option |
| 4 | Latin | -iō | — |
| 5 | Proto-West Germanic | -jō | Forms agent nouns from verbs |
| 6 | Proto-Indo-European | -yéti | Creates intransitive, often deponent,... |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | yé- | — |
| 8 | Chichewa | iye | he, she |