Etymology

adjective

A1D2J8E1C3T1I1V4E1

Today it means: A word that modifies a noun or noun phrase or describes a noun’s referent. Full definition →

Middle English adjectif ← Old French adjectif ← Latin adiectivus
Ask AI about its historyChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

The story

  1. Latin · derived fromadiectivus
  2. Old French · derived fromadjectif
  3. Middle English · inherited fromadjectif
  4. English todayadjective

From Middle English adjectif, adjective, from Old French adjectif, from Latin adiectivus, from adiciō + -īvus, from ad- (“to, towards, at”) + iaciō (“throw”). The Latin word adiectivus in turn was a calque of Ancient Greek ἐπιθετικόν (epithetikón, “added”), a derivative of the compound verb ἐπιτίθημι (epitíthēmi), from which also comes epithet.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.