Etymograph

English

maggiore

Maggiore comes from Italian maggiore ‘bigger, greater’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *méǵh₂s.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*méǵh₂s1‘big, great’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*méǵyōs1‘bigger, greater’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*majjōs1reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEmaior1
  5. Italianc. 1300–presentmaggiore1‘bigger, greater’
  6. Englishtodaymaggiore1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English maggiore

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*méǵh₂sWiktionary, English maggiore‘big, great’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*méǵyōsWiktionary, English maggiore‘bigger, greater’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*majjōsWiktionary, English maggiorereconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEmaiorWiktionary, English maggiore
  5. Italianc. 1300–presentmaggioreWiktionary, English maggiore‘bigger, greater’
  6. EnglishtodaymaggioreWiktionary, English maggiore

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *méǵh₂s ‘big, great’

master, magnitude, maxim, magnum, magnate, mair, magnify, mickle, muckle, mahila, 15 more

through Proto-Italic *majjōs

majority, 5 more

through Latin maior

major, mayor, merino, 6 more

Today it means

adj major

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “maggiore”. 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 *méǵh₂s / maggiore

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