Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “ridiculous” come from?

Ridiculous comes from Latin ridiculus, derived from ridere meaning to laugh, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European roots meaning prone to laughing.

ridiculous (English): Deserving of ridicule; foolish; absurd;...

Definitions

  1. Deserving of ridicule; foolish; absurd;...

Ancestry of “ridiculous”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Latinrīdiculus—
2Latin-ulusUsed to form a diminutive of a noun, indicating...
3Proto-Italic-olos—
4Proto-Italic-elos—
5Proto-Indo-European-e-lós—
6Proto-Indo-European-lósForms agent nouns from verbal roots

Words derived from “ridiculous”

  • ridiculously
  • ridiculousness
  • ridic
  • ridiculosity
  • unridiculous
  • ridonkulous
Every word from Proto-Indo-European -lós →