Etymology

mortal

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Today it means: Susceptible to death by aging, sickness, injury, or wound; not immortal. Full definition →

First used 14th c.Middle English mortal /mortel ← Old French mortal /mortel ← Latin mortālis
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The story

  1. Proto-Indo-European*mer-
  2. Proto-Indo-European*mértis ~ *mr̥téys
  3. Proto-Italic*mortis
  4. Latinmors
  5. Proto-Indo-European*h₂el-
  6. Proto-Indo-European*h₂élisder.?
  7. Latinmortālis
  8. Old Frenchmortal /mortel
  9. Middle Englishmortal /mortel
  10. English todaymortal

From Middle English mortal, mortel, from Old French mortal, mortel, and their source Latin mortālis, from mors (“death”). In this sense, displaced native deadly, from Old English dēadlīċ.

First known use, by meaning

  • from 14th c. Susceptible to death by aging, sickness, injury, or wound; not immortal.
  • from 14th c. Causing death; deadly, fatal, killing, lethal (now only of wounds, injuries etc.).

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.