Etymology

-ity

Today it means: Used to form an uncountable noun from an adjective; especially, to form the noun referring to the state, property, or quality of conforming to the adjective's description. Full definition →

Middle English -ite ← Old French -ite ← Latin -itātem
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-ity · suffix1

  1. Proto-Indo-European · derived from*-teh₂ts
  2. Latin · derived from-itātem
  3. Old French · derived from-ite
  4. Middle English · inherited from-ite
  5. English today-ity

From Middle English -ite, -itee, from Old French -ite, -ete, -eteit (“-ity”), from Latin -itātem, from -itās, from Proto-Indo-European *-teh₂ts (suffix). Cognate with Gothic -𐌹𐌸𐌰 (-iþa, “-th”), Old High German -ida (“-th”), Old English -þo, -þu, -þ (“-th”). More at -th. By surface analysis, -i- (“connecting vowel”) + -ty.

-ity · suffix2

Variant of -ety, likely an alteration of -edy, equivalent to -ed + -y.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.