Etymology Explorer › Middle English

Where does “evidence” come from?

evidence (Middle English) 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.

Ancestry of “evidence”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Latinevidentiaevidence; obviousness; vividness
2Latin-iaUsed to form a feminine abstract noun, usually...
3Latin-iusforming adjectives from nouns; nominative neuter...
4Proto-Italic-jōsForms comparative adjectives
5Proto-Indo-European-yósCreates adjectives from noun or verb stems

Words derived from “evidence”

  • evidence
  • counterevidence
  • nonevidence
  • evidenceth
  • inevidence
  • evidencer
  • evidenceless
  • self-evidence
  • évidence
Every word from Proto-Indo-European -yós →