English
sum
Sum comes from Latin summa ‘highest point’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *upó ‘up’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*upó‘up; from below’reconstructed
- Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*(s)úp-m̥mo-ssreconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*supemosreconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEsummus‘highest’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEsumma‘highest point’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400summe
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500same form
- Englishearliest quotation 1611sum
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*upó‘up; from below’reconstructed
- Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*(s)úp-m̥mo-ssreconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*supemosreconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEsummus‘highest’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEsumma‘highest point’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400summe
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500same form
- Englishearliest quotation 1611sum
Earliest quotation: 1611, The Holy Bible, London: […] Robert Barker: “Take yee the ſumme of all the Congregation of…”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *upó ‘up’
up, above, upper, suggest, sub, suspicion, upward, oft, hypo, subaltern, 9 more
through Latin summa ‘highest point’
Another origin of sum
- Kazakhmodernсомsom‘solid, dense’
- Englishtodaysum
Borrowed from Kazakh сом (som), Kyrgyz сом (som), Uyghur سوم (som), and Uzbek soʻm, all of which have the core signification “pure”, used in elliptical reference to historical coins of pure gold.
Another origin of sum
- Proto-Mongolicprehistoric (reconstructed)*sumun‘arrow’reconstructed
- Manchumodernᠨᡳᡵᡠniru‘a large arrow, militia company, district’
- Mongolianmodernсумsum‘arrow, projectile, bullet’
- Englishtodaysum
Today it means
noun A quantity obtained by addition or aggregation.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *upó / sum