Etymograph

English

aridity

Aridity comes from Latin āriditās ‘dryness’, from āridus ‘dry, parched, withered, arid’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₂eHs-.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₂eHs-1‘to be dry, to dry’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₂eHs-eh₁yeti1reconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*āzēō1reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEāreō1‘to be dry or parched’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEāridus1‘dry, parched, withered, arid’
  6. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEāriditās1‘dryness’
  7. Englishtodayaridity1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English aridity

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₂eHs-Wiktionary, English aridity‘to be dry, to dry’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₂eHs-eh₁yetiWiktionary, English aridityreconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*āzēōWiktionary, English aridityreconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEāreōWiktionary, English aridity‘to be dry or parched’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEāridusWiktionary, English aridity‘dry, parched, withered, arid’
  6. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEāriditāsWiktionary, English aridity‘dryness’
  7. EnglishtodayaridityWiktionary, English aridity

Formed from arid + -ity

French aride ‘arid (very dry)’

English arid

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *h₂eHs- ‘to be dry, to dry’

are, star, ash, stellar, azalea, asterisk, ashy, ashen, areal, 5 more

through Latin āreō ‘to be dry or parched’

arent, ardently, 1 more

through Latin āridus ‘dry, parched, withered, arid’

arson, ardent, ardor, 2 more

Today it means

noun A long-term lack of rainfall or moisture.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “aridity”. 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 *h₂eHs- / aridity

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