English
ubiquitous
Ubiquitous comes from Medieval Latin ubīquitās ‘ubiquity, omnipresence’, from Latin ubīque ‘everywhere’, and ultimately from Old Latin cubī.
- Old Latinc. 700–75 BCEcubī
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEubī̆‘where’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEubīque‘everywhere’
- Medieval Latinc. 600–1500ubīquitās‘ubiquity, omnipresence’
- Englishearliest quotation 1851ubiquitous
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Earlier history uncertain.
Lineage
- Old Latinc. 700–75 BCEcubī
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEubī̆‘where’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEubīque‘everywhere’
- Medieval Latinc. 600–1500ubīquitās‘ubiquity, omnipresence’
- Englishearliest quotation 1851ubiquitous
Earliest quotation: 1851, Herman Melville, ’’Moby Dick’’, Chapter 41: “One of the wild suggestions referred to, as at…”
Formed from ubiquity + -ous
Old Latin cubī
Latin ubī̆ ‘where’
Latin ubīque ‘everywhere’
Medieval Latin ubīquitās ‘ubiquity, omnipresence’
English ubiquity
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *kʷ- ‘the primary interrogative root’
what, when, who, which, how, where, why, whether, whose, whom, neutral, quantity, rapunzel, whither, quip, cadenza, 14 more
Today it means
adj Being everywhere at once: omnipresent.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Old Latin cubī / ubiquitous