Etymology Explorer › Latin

Where does “anonymus” come from?

anonymus (Latin) comes from Ancient Greek ἀνώνυμος, from Ancient Greek ἀν-, from Ancient Greek ὀρθός, from Proto-Hellenic ortʰwós, from Proto-Indo-European h₃r̥dʰwós, from Proto-Indo-European h₃erdʰ-, from Proto-Indo-European -wós — Creates adjectives from verb stems.

Ancestry of “anonymus”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Ancient Greekἀνώνυμοςanonymous, nameless
2Ancient Greekἀν-Alternative form of ἀ- used before a vowel;...
3Ancient Greekὀρθόςstraight, upright, erect; straight forward, in a...
4Proto-Hellenicortʰwós—
5Proto-Indo-Europeanh₃r̥dʰwós—
6Proto-Indo-Europeanh₃erdʰ-to increase, grow; upright, high
7Proto-Indo-European-wósCreates adjectives from verb stems
Every word from Proto-Indo-European -wós →