Etymology

total

T1O1T1A1L1

Today it means: An amount obtained by the addition of smaller amounts. Full definition →

Middle English total ← Old French total ← Medieval Latin tōtālis
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The story

  1. Medieval Latin · derived fromtōtālis
  2. Old French · derived fromtotal
  3. Middle English · inherited fromtotal
  4. English todaytotal

From Middle English total, from Old French total, from Medieval Latin tōtālis, from tōtus (“all, whole, entire”) + -ālis, the former element of unknown origin. Perhaps related to Oscan touto (“community, city-state”), Umbrian 𐌕𐌏𐌕𐌀𐌌 (totam, “tribe”, acc.), Old English þēod (“a nation, people, tribe”), from Proto-Indo-European *tewtéh₂ (“people”). More at English Dutch, English thede.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.