Etymograph

English

anniversary

Anniversary comes from Anglo-Norman anniversarie, from Latin anniversārius ‘yearly’, from annus ‘year’ + vertō ‘to turn’.

  1. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEvertō‘to turn’
  2. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEanniversārius‘yearly’
  3. Anglo-Normanc. 1066–1400anniversarie
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500anniversary
  5. Englishearliest quotation 1984same form

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Lineage

  1. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEvertō‘to turn’
  2. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEanniversārius‘yearly’
  3. Anglo-Normanc. 1066–1400anniversarie
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500anniversary
  5. Englishearliest quotation 1984same form

Earliest quotation: 1984, Never Mind the Tranquil Facade: “The occasion was the six-month anniversary of the Aug.…”

A compound of annus ‘year’ + vertere ‘to turn’

Proto-Indo-European *h₂et- ‘to go’

Proto-Indo-European *h₂ét-no-

Proto-Italic *atnos ‘year’

Medieval Latin annus ‘year’

Proto-Indo-European *wert- ‘to turn, to rotate, spin’

Proto-Italic *wertō ‘to turn’

Medieval Latin vertō ‘to turn’

Every English word from Latin vertō

Today it means

noun A day that is an exact number of years (to the day) since a given significant event occurred. Often preceded by an ordinal number indicating the number of years.

Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.

Etymograph / Latin vertō / anniversary

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