Etymograph

English

inequality

Inequality comes from Latin inaequālis ‘unequal’, from aequālis ‘equal’, and ultimately from Old Latin aiquos.

  1. Old Latinc. 700–75 BCEaiquos
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEaequus‘equal, even’
  3. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEaequālis‘equal’
  4. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEinaequālis‘unequal’
  5. Medieval Latinc. 600–1500inaequālitās
  6. Old Frenchc. 842–1400inequalité
  7. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500inequalite
  8. Englishearliest quotation 1881inequality

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

Earlier history uncertain.

Lineage

  1. Old Latinc. 700–75 BCEaiquos
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEaequus‘equal, even’
  3. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEaequālis‘equal’
  4. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEinaequālis‘unequal’
  5. Medieval Latinc. 600–1500inaequālitās
  6. Old Frenchc. 842–1400inequalité
  7. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500inequalite
  8. Englishearliest quotation 1881inequality

Earliest quotation: 1881, Charles Darwin, The Formation of Vegetable Mould Through the Action of Worms: “When we behold a wide, turf-covered expanse, we should…”

Linked words

through Old Latin aiquos

inequitable, 13 more

through Latin aequus ‘equal, even’

equity, equation, equitable, equate, 14 more

through Latin aequālis ‘equal’

equal, egalitarian, 5 more

Today it means

noun A condition or state (of social, cultural, or legal matters) that is not equal; especially, such a condition that is thereby also unfair.

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

Etymograph / Old Latin aiquos / inequality

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