Etymology

familiar

F4A1M3I1L1I1A1R1

Today it means: Known to one, or generally known; commonplace. Full definition →

Middle English familiar, familier ← Latin familiāris
Ask AI about its historyChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

The story

  1. Latin · derived fromfamiliāris“pertaining to servants; pertaining to the household”
  2. Middle English · inherited fromfamiliar, familier
  3. English todayfamiliar

From Middle English familiar, familier, from Latin familiāris (“pertaining to servants; pertaining to the household”). By surface analysis, family + -ar. Piecewise doublet of familial. Displaced native Old English hīwcūþ.

Words from the same roots

Latinfamiliāris all →

familiary

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.