English
mediocrity
Mediocrity comes from Latin mediocritās ‘a middle state’, and goes back to mediocris.
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEmediocris‘middling, moderate, medium’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEmediocritās‘a middle state’
- Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600médiocrité
- Englishearliest quotation 1609mediocrity
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
Earlier history uncertain.
Lineage
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEmediocris‘middling, moderate, medium’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEmediocritās‘a middle state’
- Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600médiocrité
- Englishearliest quotation 1609mediocrity
Earliest quotation: 1609, Richard Carew, The Second Booke: “Sundrie other Gent[lemen] reſt beholden to this hundred, for…”
Equivalent to mediocre + -ity
Latin mediocris ‘in a middle state”, “of middle size”,…’
Middle French médiocre
French médiocre ‘mediocre, middle’
Middle English medioker
English mediocre
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *h₂eḱ- ‘sharp’
hear, edge, egg, acid, ear, acute, hammer, axe, acne, oxide, acetate, paragon, acupuncture, acacia, hark, acumen, acme, acyl, acuity, rosacea, roselle, 73 more
through Proto-Indo-European *h₂eḱrós ‘sharp’
eager, vinegar, exacerbate, acerbic, exacerbation, acrimony, acrid, 14 more
Today it means
noun The condition of being mediocre; having only an average degree of quality, skills etc.; no better than standard.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Latin mediocris / mediocrity