Etymograph

English

mortal

Mortal comes from Latin mortālis, from mors ‘death’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *mer- ‘to die’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*mer-‘to die’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*mértis‘death’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*mortis‘death’reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEmors‘death’
  5. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEmortālis
  6. Old Frenchc. 842–1400mortal
  7. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500mortal
  8. Englishearliest quotation 1590mortal

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*mer-‘to die’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*mértis‘death’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*mortis‘death’reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEmors‘death’
  5. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEmortālis
  6. Old Frenchc. 842–1400mortal
  7. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500mortal
  8. Englishearliest quotation 1590mortal

Earliest quotation: 1590, Edmund Spenser, Book III, Canto XI: “Blyndfold he was; and in his cruell fist A…”

The story

In this sense, displaced native deadly, from Old English dēadlīċ.

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *mer- ‘to die’

remember, march, murder, marine, nightmare, mere, maritime, marsh, mare, mara, muller, morbid, moor, ambrosia, marinate, marinara, morn, mortuary, maar, moribund, cormorant, mortier, 60 more

through Proto-Italic *mortis ‘death’

mortician, 9 more

through Latin mors ‘death’

mortification, 9 more

through Latin mortālis

immortality, 2 more

Today it means

adj Susceptible to death by aging, sickness, injury, or wound; not immortal.

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

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *mer- / mortal

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