English
indifferentness
Indifferentness comes from Latin indifferēns ‘indifferent’, from differēns ‘spreading, scattering, dispersing, separating’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *bʰer- ‘to bear, carry’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*bʰer-1‘to bear, carry’reconstructed
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*bʰéreti1‘to be carrying’reconstructedderived within Proto-Indo-European
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*ferō1‘to carry, bear’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEferō1‘to bear’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEdifferō1‘to carry different ways, spread, scatter, disperse, separate’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEdifferēns1‘spreading, scattering, dispersing, separating’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEindifferēns1‘indifferent’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400indifferent1
- English1500–presentindifferent1
- Englishtodayindifferentness1
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
- 1 Wiktionary, English indifferentness
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*bʰer-Wiktionary, English indifferentness‘to bear, carry’reconstructed
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*bʰéretiWiktionary, English indifferentness‘to be carrying’reconstructedderived within Proto-Indo-European
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*ferōWiktionary, English indifferentness‘to carry, bear’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEferōWiktionary, English indifferentness‘to bear’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEdifferōWiktionary, English indifferentness‘to carry different ways, spread, scatter, disperse, separate’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEdifferēnsWiktionary, English indifferentness‘spreading, scattering, dispersing, separating’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEindifferēnsWiktionary, English indifferentness‘indifferent’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400indifferentWiktionary, English indifferentness
- English1500–presentindifferentWiktionary, English indifferentness
- EnglishtodayindifferentnessWiktionary, English indifferentness
A compound of indifferent + -ness
Proto-Indo-European *bʰer- ‘to bear, carry’
…
Latin differō ‘to carry different ways, spread, scatter,…’
Latin differēns ‘spreading, scattering, dispersing, separating’
Latin indifferēns
Old French indifferent
English indifferent
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *bʰer- ‘to bear, carry’
bar, birth, broad, bread, prefer, fortune, burden, bearing, barrel, barn, fury, baron, bark, bore, breeze, broom, barrow, embargo, berth, fret, ferret, furtive, insufferable, bier, bahar, birr, bairn, burnish, barrette, proffer, 113 more
through Proto-Indo-European *bʰéreti ‘to be carrying’
bear, borne, phosphate, phosphorus, euphoria, dysphoria, semaphore, phosphine, 91 more
through Proto-Italic *ferō ‘to carry, bear’
suffering, infertility, infertile, 67 more
through Latin ferō ‘to bear’
offer, transfer, translation, relative, reference, relation, extraordinary, relate, suffer, frustration, translate, strangely, fertility, referee, referendum, fertile, extravagant, frustrate, elated, confer, fertilization, differentiation, ablation, infra, infer, elation, extraneous, collation, deference, collate, fertilize, ablative, strangeness, oblate, estrange, deferential, differentially, differentiable, efferent, differentiator, 70 more
through Latin differō ‘to carry different ways, spread, scatter,…’
differently, differ, defer, dilate, 41 more
through Latin differēns ‘spreading, scattering, dispersing, separating’
Today it means
noun The quality of being indifferent.
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “indifferentness”. 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 *bʰer- / indifferentness