Etymology

denominator

D2E1N1O1M3I1N1A1T1O1R1

Today it means: The number or expression written below the line in a fraction (such as 2 in ½). Full definition →

Late Latin dēnōminātor ← Latin dēnōminō ← Proto-Italic *nōmn̥
Ask AI about its historyChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

The story

  1. Proto-Indo-European*de
  2. Proto-Indo-European*déh₁
  3. Proto-Italic*dē
  4. Latindē
  5. Latindē-
  6. Proto-Indo-European*h₁nómn̥
  7. Proto-Italic*nōmn̥
  8. Latinnōmen
  9. Latinnōminō
  10. Latindēnōminō
  11. Late Latindēnōminātor
  12. English todaydenominator

Learned borrowing from Late Latin dēnōminātor (“that which names”).

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.