English
unity
Unity comes from Latin ūnitās ‘oneness, unity’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *óynos ‘one, single’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*óynos‘one, single’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEūnitās‘oneness, unity’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400unité
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500unite
- Englishearliest quotation 1846unity
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*óynos‘one, single’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEūnitās‘oneness, unity’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400unité
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500unite
- Englishearliest quotation 1846unity
Earliest quotation: 1846, E. A. Poe: “If any literary work is too long to be…”
Equivalent to unite + -y
Proto-Indo-European *h₁óynos ‘one’
…
Latin ūnus ‘one, single’
Latin ūniō
Latin ūnītus ‘united’
Middle English uniten ‘to annex’
English unite
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *óynos ‘one, single’
Today it means
noun Oneness: the state or fact of being one undivided entity.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *óynos / unity