Where does “unnecessary” come from?
Unnecessary derives from English un- plus necessary, which comes from Latin necessarius, formed from Latin necessē (unavoidable) and the adjective suffix -arius, ultimately tracing to Proto-Indo-European ne (not) and Proto-Indo-European óynos (one).
unnecessary (English): Not needed or necessary; Done in addition to...
Definitions
- Not needed or necessary; Done in addition to...
Ancestry of “unnecessary”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | necessary | Required, essential, whether logically... |
| 2 | Middle English | necessarye | — |
| 3 | Old French | necessaire | — |
| 4 | Latin | necessārius | unavoidable, inevitable |
| 5 | Latin | necesse | unavoidable, "particularly" |
| 6 | Latin | cessus | conceded, given up, granted, surrendered,... |
| 7 | Latin | cēdō | to go, move, proceed, go along, move along |
| 8 | Proto-Italic | kedō | give here! |
| 9 | Proto-Italic | ke | here |
| 10 | Indo-European | *ḱe | — |