Where does “sanity” come from?
Sanity derives from English sane plus the Latin suffix -itas, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European -it-, forming an abstract noun denoting the quality of being mentally sound.
sanity (English): The condition of being sane; Reasonable and...
Definitions
- The condition of being sane; Reasonable and...
Ancestry of “sanity”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | English | -ity | Used to form a noun from an adjective;... |
| 2 | Middle English | -ite | — |
| 3 | Old French | -ité | -ity |
| 4 | Latin | -itās | — |
| 5 | Proto-Indo-European | -teh₂ts | Used to form nouns representing state of being |
| 6 | Proto-Indo-European | -teh₂ | Used to form nouns representing state of being |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | -tós | Creates verbal adjectives from verb stems |