Etymograph

English

comity

Comity comes from Latin cōmis, from Proto-Italic *komsmis ‘courteous, kind, obliging, affable, gracious’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *smey- ‘to smile’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*smey-1‘to smile’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*komsmis1‘courteous, kind, obliging, affable, gracious’reconstructed
  3. Archaic Latinc. 700–75 BCEcosmis1
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcōmis2
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcōmitās3
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500comite3‘association’
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1994comity3

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin comis
  2. 2 Wiktionary, Latin comitas
  3. 3 Wiktionary, English comity
  4. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1994, Nelson Mandela, Long Walk to Freedom: “There, I saw not only flare-ups of ethnic animosity,…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*smey-Wiktionary, Latin comis‘to smile’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*komsmisWiktionary, Latin comis‘courteous, kind, obliging, affable, gracious’reconstructed
  3. Archaic Latinc. 700–75 BCEcosmisWiktionary, Latin comis
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcōmisWiktionary, Latin comitas
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcōmitāsWiktionary, English comity
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500comiteWiktionary, English comity‘association’
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1994comityWiktionary, English comity. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1994, Nelson Mandela, Long Walk to Freedom: “There, I saw not only flare-ups of ethnic animosity,…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *smey- ‘to smile’

smile, smith, mirror, admirable, 3 more

Today it means

noun Courtesy and considerate behaviour towards others; social harmony.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “comity”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Latin comis, Latin comitas. 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 *smey- / comity

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