Where does “privilege” come from?
privilege (Middle English) comes from Anglo-Norman privilege, from Latin prīvilēgium, from Latin -ium, from Latin -ius, from Proto-Italic -jōs, from Proto-Indo-European -yós — Creates adjectives from noun or verb stems.
Ancestry of “privilege”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Anglo-Norman | privilege | privilege |
| 2 | Latin | prīvilēgium | A law or bill concerning a specific individual |
| 3 | Latin | -ium | Suffix used to form abstract nouns, sometimes... |
| 4 | Latin | -ius | forming adjectives from nouns; nominative neuter... |
| 5 | Proto-Italic | -jōs | Forms comparative adjectives |
| 6 | Proto-Indo-European | -yós | Creates adjectives from noun or verb stems |