Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “sum” come from?

Sum comes from Old French summe, from Latin summa meaning "total" or "aggregate," derived from the comparative form of summus, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European upo.

sum (English): A quantity obtained by addition or aggregation;...

Definitions

  1. A quantity obtained by addition or aggregation;...

Ancestry of “sum”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Khmerសwhite
2Chinese蘇—
3EnglishSueA Mary Sue
4Middle Englishseuen—
5Anglo-Normansuernominative singular of seror; to dry
6Old Frenchsivreto follow
7Vulgar Latinsequereto follow; second-person singular future active...
8LatinsequorI follow, come or go after
9Proto-Italicsekʷōrfollow, come/go after
10Proto-Indo-Europeansékʷetorto be following
11Proto-Indo-Europeansekʷ-to follow; to see; to say

Words derived from “sum”

  • checksum
  • summand
  • summate
  • summable
  • sumless
  • resum
  • summability
  • subsum
  • summist
  • sumset
  • summeth
  • summest
  • nonsummable
  • oversum
  • summity
  • unsummable
  • sum-up
  • foremus
  • foretis
  • forent
Every word from Proto-Indo-European sekʷ- →