Where does “solemnity” come from?
Solemnity comes from French solennité, from Latin solemnitas, derived from the Proto-Indo-European suffix -it- denoting a quality or state of being.
solemnity (English): The quality of being deeply serious and sober or...
Definitions
- The quality of being deeply serious and sober or...
Ancestry of “solemnity”, step by step
solemnity traces back through 3 separate lines of ancestry.
via Middle English solemnity
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Middle English | solemnity | observance of formality and ceremony |
| 2 | Old French | solemnité | — |
| 3 | Latin | sollemnitās | solemnity |
| 4 | Latin | -tās | ty, -dom, -hood, -ness, -ship |
| 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 |