Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “total” come from?

Total comes from Middle English total, from Old French total, from Medieval Latin totalis meaning "of the whole," derived from Latin -alis and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European roots meaning "all" or "whole."

total (English): An amount obtained by the addition of smaller...

Definitions

  1. An amount obtained by the addition of smaller...

Ancestry of “total”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Middle Englishtotal—
2Old Frenchtotal—
3Medieval Latintotalistotal
4Latintōtus—
5Latintotso many
6Proto-Indo-Europeantoti—
7Proto-Indo-Europeansóthis; that

Words derived from “total”

  • totally
  • totality
  • subtotal
  • totalization
  • teetotaller
  • teetotaler
  • teetotal
  • teetotalism
  • totalize
  • totalism
  • teetotaling
  • totalizer
  • teetotally
  • tottle
  • totalise
  • totalness
  • detotalize
  • tottlish
  • teetotalist
  • posttotal
  • tot up
  • teetotalistic
  • tota
  • tote
Every word from Proto-Indo-European só →