ceremonious

The story

1. Proto-Indo-European · derived from*kʷer-“to build, make; to do”
2. Latin · derived fromcaerimōnia“awe, reverence, veneration; sacredness, sanctity; religious ceremony, ritual”
3. Latin · learned borrowing fromcaerimōniōsus
4. Middle French · learned borrowing fromcérémonieux
5. English todayceremonious

Learned borrowing from Middle French cérémonieux (modern French cérémonieux) or directly from its etymon Latin caerimōniōsus + English -ous (suffix forming adjectives from nouns, denoting the presence of a quality in any degree (typically an abundance)). Caerimōniōsus is derived from Latin caerimōnia (“awe, reverence, veneration; sacredness, sanctity; religious ceremony, ritual”) (possibly ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *kʷer- (“to build, make; to do”)) + -ōsus (suffix meaning ‘full of, overly’ forming adjectives from nouns). By surface analysis, ceremony + -ous.

Words from the same roots