English
immemorial
Immemorial comes from French immémorial ‘immemorial, age-old’, and goes back to mémorial.
- Frenchc. 1600–presentmémorial
- French, derivedc. 1600–presentimmémorial‘immemorial, age-old’
- Englishearliest quotation 1868immemorial
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Frenchc. 1600–presentmémorial
- French, derivedc. 1600–presentimmémorial‘immemorial, age-old’
- Englishearliest quotation 1868immemorial
Earliest quotation: 1868, James Redfoord Bulwer, The Law Reports. Court of Common Pleas.: “...the fact of the immemorial taking of the toll,…”
Every English word from French mémorial
Today it means
adj That is beyond memory; ancient.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / French mémorial / immemorial