Where does “jamais” come from?
jamais (Old Portuguese) comes from Old Occitan ja mais, from Latin iam magis, from Latin magis, from Dutch magisch, from Dutch magie, from French magie, from Middle French magie, from Latin magīa — to be able.
Ancestry of “jamais”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | Old Occitan | ja mais | — |
| 2 | Latin | iam magis | yet more |
| 3 | Latin | magis | more; more greatly; better |
| 4 | Dutch | magisch | magical, controlled or determined by supernatural... |
| 5 | Dutch | magie | magic, sorcery ; hence supernatural occurrences... |
| 6 | French | magie | magic; A magical, surprising, fascinating feat;... |
| 7 | Middle French | magie | — |
| 8 | Latin | magīa | — |
| 9 | Ancient Greek | μαγεία | — |
| 10 | Ancient Greek | Μάγος | magician, and derogatorily sorcerer, trickster,... |
| 11 | Old Persian | 𐎶𐎦𐏁 | priest |
| 12 | Proto-Iranian | magúš | — |
| 13 | Proto-Indo-Iranian | magʰúš | — |
| 14 | Proto-Indo-European | megʰ-ú-s | — |
| 15 | Proto-Indo-European | megʰ- | to be able |
Words derived from “jamais”