English
mortality
Mortality comes from Old French mortalite ‘death’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *mer- ‘to die’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*mer-‘to die’reconstructed
- Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*mértis‘death’reconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*mortis‘death’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEmors‘death’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEmortālis‘relating to death’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEmortālitās
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400mortalite‘death’
- Englishearliest quotation 1595mortality
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*mer-‘to die’reconstructed
- Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*mértis‘death’reconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*mortis‘death’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEmors‘death’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEmortālis‘relating to death’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEmortālitās
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400mortalite‘death’
- Englishearliest quotation 1595mortality
Earliest quotation: 1595, Edmunde Spenser [i.e., [Amoretti.] Sonnet XIII: “[H]er minde remembreth her mortalitie, / vvhat ſo is…”
Formed from mortal + -ity
Proto-Indo-European *mer- ‘to die’
…
Latin mors ‘death’
Latin mortālis
Old French mortal
Middle English mortal
English mortal
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *mer- ‘to die’
remember, march, murder, marine, nightmare, mere, marsh, maritime, mare, mara, muller, moor, morbid, ambrosia, morn, marinate, mortuary, marinara, maar, moribund, cormorant, mortier, 60 more
through Proto-Italic *mortis ‘death’
through Latin mors ‘death’
through Latin mortālis ‘relating to death’
Today it means
noun The state of being susceptible to death.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *mer- / mortality