Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “privilege” come from?

Privilege comes from Old French privilege, a legal term for a special right or exemption granted to an individual or group.

privilege (English): An exemption from certain laws granted by the...

Definitions

  1. An exemption from certain laws granted by the...

Ancestry of “privilege”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Middle Englishprivilege—
2Anglo-Normanprivilegeprivilege
3Latinprīvilēgium—
4Latin-iumSuffix used to form abstract nouns, sometimes...
5Latin-iusforming adjectives from nouns; nominative neuter...
6Proto-Italic-jōsForms comparative adjectives
7Proto-Indo-European-yósCreates adjectives from noun or verb stems

Words derived from “privilege”

  • underprivilege
  • disprivilege
  • deprivilege
  • privilegee
  • cis privilege
  • cisprivilege
Every word from Proto-Indo-European -yós →