Where does “optional” come from?
optional (Italian) comes from English optional, from English option, from French option, from Latin optiō, from Latin -iō, from Proto-West Germanic -jō, from Proto-Indo-European -yéti, from Proto-Indo-European yé- — he, she.
optional (Italian): optional accessory; handicap
Definitions
- optional accessory; handicap
Ancestry of “optional”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | optional | Not compulsory; left to personal choice;... |
| 2 | English | option | One of a set of choices that can be made; The... |
| 3 | French | option | option |
| 4 | Latin | optiō | choosing, choice, preference, option |
| 5 | Latin | -iō | — |
| 6 | Proto-West Germanic | -jō | Forms agent nouns from verbs |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | -yéti | Creates intransitive, often deponent,... |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | yé- | — |
| 9 | Chichewa | iye | he, she |