extremity

The story

1. Proto-Indo-European · derived from*-is-
2. Proto-Indo-European · derived from*h₁eǵʰs“out”
3. Proto-Indo-European · derived from*-teh₂ts
4. Latin · derived fromextrēmitātem“extremity; border, perimeter; ending”
5. Old French · derived fromextremité
6. Middle English · inherited fromextremite
7. English todayextremity

From Middle English extremite, from Old French extremité, from Latin extrēmitātem (“extremity; border, perimeter; ending”), from extrēmīs (“furthest, extreme”) + -itās (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *-teh₂ts (suffix forming nouns indicating a state of being); see extreme. Extrēmīs is derived from exter (“external, outward”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₁eǵʰs (“out”)) + -issimus (superlative suffix) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *-is- (comparative suffix) + *-(t)m̥mo- (absolutive case suffix)).

Words from the same roots

First known use, by meaning

• from c. 1400 The most extreme or furthest point of something.
• from early 15th c. A hand or foot.
• from early 15th c. A limb (“major appendage of a human or animal such as an arm, leg, or wing”).