Etymograph

English

communitas

Communitas comes from Latin commūnitās ‘a community’, from commūnis ‘common, public’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *mey- ‘to attach, bind, strengthen’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*mey-1‘to attach, bind, strengthen’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ḱom-moy-ni-s1reconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*kommoinis1‘common’reconstructed
  4. Old Latinc. 700–75 BCEcomoinis1
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcommūnis1‘common, public’
  6. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcommūnitās2‘a community’
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1986communitas2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin communitas
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English communitas
  3. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1986, Victor W. Turner, The Anthropology of Experience: “A sense of harmony with the universe is made…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*mey-Wiktionary, Latin communitas‘to attach, bind, strengthen’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ḱom-moy-ni-sWiktionary, Latin communitasreconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*kommoinisWiktionary, Latin communitas‘common’reconstructed
  4. Old Latinc. 700–75 BCEcomoinisWiktionary, Latin communitas
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcommūnisWiktionary, Latin communitas‘common, public’
  6. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcommūnitāsWiktionary, English communitas‘a community’
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1986communitasWiktionary, English communitas. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1986, Victor W. Turner, The Anthropology of Experience: “A sense of harmony with the universe is made…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *mey- ‘to attach, bind, strengthen’

mean, met, minute, minister, minor, mess, commission, meal, ministry, min, menu, missile, mere, mutual, minus, compromise, dismiss, premise, mole, commit, immune, mayhem, noodle, moor, mural, ammo, intermittent, ammunition, municipality, immunity, remuneration, mite, minstrel, omit, monolith, meiosis, mitra, mitosis, mitre, missive, 73 more

through Proto-Italic *kommoinis ‘common’

commonly, 20 more

through Latin commūnis ‘common, public’

common, telecommunication, excommunication, 21 more

Today it means

noun An unstructured community of common experience.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “communitas”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Latin communitas. 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 *mey- / communitas

Shirt and support for this word