Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “perversity” come from?

Perversity comes from French perversité, from Latin perversitas meaning the quality of being perverted, derived from the Latin suffix -itas, which is rooted in Proto-Indo-European -it-.

perversity (English): The quality of being perverse; A perverse act

Definitions

  1. The quality of being perverse; A perverse act

Ancestry of “perversity”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1EnglishperverseTurned aside; hence, specifically, turned away...
2Old Frenchpervers—
3Latinperversumnominative neuter singular of perversus;...
4Latinperverterethird-person plural perfect active indicative of...
5Latinvertereinflection of vertō: ## third-person plural...
6LatinvertoI turn, revolve; I turn around; I reverse
7Proto-Italicwertō—
8Proto-Indo-Europeanwert-to turn, to rotate
9Proto-Indo-Europeanwer-to burn; to cover, heed, notice; squirrel
Every word from Proto-Indo-European wer- →