Etymograph

English

annuity

Annuity comes from Medieval Latin annuitās ‘annuality, quality of being annual’, from Latin annus ‘year’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₂et- ‘grass’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₂et-1‘grass’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₂et-nó-s1reconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*atnos2‘year’uncertain
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEannus2‘year’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEannuus3‘annual’
  6. Medieval Latinc. 600–1500annuitās3‘annuality, quality of being annual’
  7. Frenchc. 1600–presentannuité3
  8. Englishtodayannuity3

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Proto-Italic *atnos
  2. 2 Wiktionary, Latin annuus
  3. 3 Wiktionary, English annuity

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₂et-Wiktionary, Proto-Italic *atnos‘grass’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₂et-nó-sWiktionary, Proto-Italic *atnosreconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*atnosWiktionary, Latin annuus‘year’uncertain
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEannusWiktionary, Latin annuus‘year’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEannuusWiktionary, English annuity‘annual’
  6. Medieval Latinc. 600–1500annuitāsWiktionary, English annuity‘annuality, quality of being annual’
  7. Frenchc. 1600–presentannuitéWiktionary, English annuity
  8. EnglishtodayannuityWiktionary, English annuity

The story

Cf. annuality.

Full etymology on Wiktionary

Linked words

through Latin annus ‘year’

ann, millennium, perennial, millennial, biennial, biennale, annum, 11 more

through Latin annuus ‘annual’

annual

Today it means

noun A right to receive amounts of money regularly over a certain fixed period, in perpetuity, or, especially, over the remaining life or lives of one or more beneficiaries.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “annuity”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Proto-Italic *atnos, Latin annuus. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *h₂et- / annuity

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