English
popularity
Popularity comes from Latin popularitas ‘an effort to please the people’, from populāris ‘popular’, and ultimately from Proto-Italic *poplos ‘army’.
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*poplos‘army’reconstructed
- Old Latinc. 700–75 BCEpopulus
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEsame form‘a people, nation’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEpopulāris‘popular’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEpopularitas‘an effort to please the people’
- Englishearliest quotation 1597popularity
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Earlier history uncertain.
Lineage
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*poplos‘army’reconstructed
- Old Latinc. 700–75 BCEpopulus
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEsame form‘a people, nation’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEpopulāris‘popular’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEpopularitas‘an effort to please the people’
- Englishearliest quotation 1597popularity
Earliest quotation: 1597, Francis Bacon: “Popularities, and circumstances which […] sway the ordinary judgment.”
Formed from popular + -ity
Proto-Italic *poplos ‘army’
…
Latin populus ‘a people’
Latin populāris ‘of the people’
Old French populaire
Middle English populer ‘commonly known’
English popular
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *pleh₁- ‘to fill’
public, full, complete, plus, fill, plenty, plain, folk, poll, comply, ample, plural, plethora, amplify, amplitude, replenish, plenary, plenum, plebs, volk, plebeian, puri, fulsome, 73 more
through Proto-Italic *plēō ‘to fill’
supply, completion, implement, accomplish, supplement, complement, manipulation, depletion, replete, deplete, 14 more
through Proto-Italic *poplos ‘army’
through Old Latin populus
through Latin populus ‘a people, nation’
Today it means
noun The quality or state of being popular; especially, the state of being widely liked or in favor with the people at large.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Italic *poplos / popularity