Where does “universe” come from?
Universe comes from Middle English universe, from Old French univers, from Latin universum meaning "all things together," derived from versus meaning "turned" and vertere meaning "to turn," ultimately from Proto-Indo-European wer-.
universe (English): The sum of everything that exists in the cosmos,...
Definitions
- The sum of everything that exists in the cosmos,...
Ancestry of “universe”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Middle English | universe | The universe; the stars |
| 2 | Old French | univers | the whole world; the whole Earth; universal;... |
| 3 | Latin | ūniversum | — |
| 4 | Latin | versus | turned, changed, having been turned; towards,... |
| 5 | Latin | vertō | to turn, turn oneself, direct one's way, to turn about, turn around, revolve |
| 6 | Proto-Italic | wertō | to turn |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | wert- | to turn, to rotate |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | wer- | to burn; to cover, heed, notice; squirrel |