Where does “perpetuity” come from?
Perpetuity comes from Middle English perpetuitee, from Old French perpetüité, from Latin perpetuitas, derived from the suffix -tas added to Latin peto, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European peth₂-.
perpetuity (English): The quality or state of being perpetual; endless...
Definitions
- The quality or state of being perpetual; endless...
Ancestry of “perpetuity”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Middle English | perpetuitee | — |
| 2 | Old French | perpetüité | — |
| 3 | Latin | perpetuitas | perpetuity, continuity |
| 4 | Latin | perpetuus | perpetual, continuous, uninterrupted, constant,... |
| 5 | Latin | -uus | forms adjectives on verbal stems |
| 6 | Proto-Italic | *-wos | — |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | -wós | Creates adjectives from verb stems |