Etymology

nominative

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Today it means: Giving a name; naming; designating. Full definition →

Middle English nominatyf ← Latin nōminātīvus ← Old French nominatif
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The story

  1. Proto-Indo-European*h₁nómn̥
  2. Proto-Italic*nōmn̥
  3. Latinnōmen
  4. Latinnōminō
  5. Ancient Greekὀνομαστική (onomastikḗ)
  6. Latinnōminātīvus
  7. Old Frenchnominatif
  8. Latinnōminātīvus
  9. Middle Englishnominatyf
  10. English todaynominative

From Middle English nominatyf, either via Old French nominatif or directly from Latin nōminātīvus (“pertaining to naming, nominative”).

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.