The story
- Latin · derived fromadiectivus
- Old French · derived fromadjectif
- Middle English · inherited fromadjectif
- 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.