Etymology Explorer › Middle English

Where does “universal” come from?

universal (Middle English) comes from Old French universal, from Latin universalis, from Latin ūniversus, from Latin versus, from Latin vertō, from Proto-Italic wertō, from Proto-Indo-European wert-, from Proto-Indo-European wer- — to burn; to cover, heed, notice; squirrel.

universal (Middle English): all-encompassing, subject to everything and...

Definitions

  1. all-encompassing, subject to everything and...

Ancestry of “universal”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Old Frenchuniversaluniversal
2Latinuniversalisuniversal; general
3Latinūniversus—
4Latinversusturned, changed, having been turned; towards,...
5Latinvertō—
6Proto-Italicwertō—
7Proto-Indo-Europeanwert-to turn, to rotate
8Proto-Indo-Europeanwer-to burn; to cover, heed, notice; squirrel

Words derived from “universal”

  • universal
  • universally
  • universalism
  • universalist
  • universalistic
  • universalization
  • universalize
  • universalisation
  • universalise
  • nonuniversal
  • universalness
  • antiuniversalism
  • Universalian
  • antiuniversalist
  • nonuniversalist
  • nonuniversalistic
  • superuniversal
  • interuniversal
  • universal grinder
  • nonuniversally
  • universal packager
  • universal sorter
  • universala
  • ユニバーサル
Every word from Proto-Indo-European wer- →