English
liquidity
Liquidity comes from Latin liquidus ‘liquid, fluid, flowing’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *wleykʷ- ‘moist, to wet’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*wleykʷ-‘moist, to wet’reconstructed
- Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*wlikʷéh₁yetireconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*(w)likʷēōreconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEliqueō‘to be liquid’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEliquidus‘liquid, fluid, flowing’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEliquiditas
- Englishearliest quotation 2011liquidity
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*wleykʷ-‘moist, to wet’reconstructed
- Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*wlikʷéh₁yetireconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*(w)likʷēōreconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEliqueō‘to be liquid’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEliquidus‘liquid, fluid, flowing’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEliquiditas
- Englishearliest quotation 2011liquidity
Earliest quotation: 2011, Paul Krugman, A Self-Fulfilling Euro Crisis? (Wonkish): “This is often phrased in terms of whether they…”
Formed from liquid + -ity
Latin liqueō ‘to be liquid’
Latin liquidus ‘fluid’
Old French liquide
Middle English liquide
English liquid
The story
In their financial and economic senses, this and various associated terms all involve portraying assets figuratively as if they were liquids and solids, dissolving the solids with solvents, freezing and thawing, and so on.
Every English word from Proto-Indo-European *wleykʷ-
Today it means
noun The state or property of being liquid.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *wleykʷ- / liquidity