English
grammar
Grammar comes from Old French gramaire ‘classical learning’, from Latin grammatica, from Ancient Greek γραμματική ‘grammar’, from γράμμα ‘line of writing’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *gerbʰ- ‘to carve, scratch’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*gerbʰ-‘to carve, scratch’reconstructed
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEγράφω‘to write’
- Ancient Greek, derivedc. 800–300 BCEγράμμα‘line of writing’
- Ancient Greek, derivedc. 800–300 BCEγραμματικός‘of letters; grammarian’
- Ancient Greek, derivedc. 800–300 BCEγραμματικήgrammatikḗ‘grammar’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEgrammatica
- Vulgar Latinc. 100–700 CE*grammāriareconstructedalteration of grammatica
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400gramaire‘classical learning’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500gramere
- Englishearliest quotation c. 1619–1623grammar
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*gerbʰ-‘to carve, scratch’reconstructed
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEγράφω‘to write’
- Ancient Greek, derivedc. 800–300 BCEγράμμα‘line of writing’
- Ancient Greek, derivedc. 800–300 BCEγραμματικός‘of letters; grammarian’
- Ancient Greek, derivedc. 800–300 BCEγραμματικήgrammatikḗ‘grammar’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEgrammatica
- Vulgar Latinc. 100–700 CE*grammāriareconstructedalteration of grammatica
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400gramaire‘classical learning’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500gramere
- Englishearliest quotation c. 1619–1623grammar
Earliest quotation: c. 1619–1623, John Ford, The Lawes of Candy: “She is in her Moods, and her Tenses: /…”
The story
From Middle English gramere, from Old French gramaire (‘classical learning’), from unattested Vulgar Latin *grammāria, an alteration of Latin grammatica, from Ancient Greek γραμματική (grammatikḗ, “skilled in writing”), from γράμμα (grámma, “line of writing”), from γράφω (gráphō, “write”), from Proto-Indo-European *gerbʰ- (‘to carve, scratch’).
Linked words
pairs
- grammar and glamour both from Middle English gramere ‘grammar’
through Proto-Indo-European *gerbʰ- ‘to carve, scratch’
photo, cinema, graphic, crawl, crab, graffiti, carve, graft, graphite, graphene, demography, crawfish, ultrasonography, epigraph, sonography, epigram, 82 more
through Old French gramaire ‘classical learning’
Today it means
noun A system of rules and principles for the structure of a language, or of languages in general.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *gerbʰ- / grammar