Where does “évidence” come from?
évidence (French) comes from Latin evidentia, from Latin -ia, from Latin -ius, from Proto-Italic -jōs, from Proto-Indo-European -yós — Creates adjectives from noun or verb stems.
évidence (French): obviousness, clearness
Ancestry of “évidence”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | Latin | evidentia | evidence; obviousness; vividness |
| 2 | Latin | -ia | Used to form a feminine abstract noun, usually... |
| 3 | Latin | -ius | forming adjectives from nouns; nominative neuter... |
| 4 | Proto-Italic | -jōs | Forms comparative adjectives |
| 5 | Proto-Indo-European | -yós | Creates adjectives from noun or verb stems |