English
narrative
Narrative is borrowed from Middle Scots narrative, from Middle French narratif, from Latin narrātīvus, from narrō ‘to narrate’.
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEnarrō1‘to narrate’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEnarrātīvus1
- Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600narratif1
- Middle Scotsmodernnarrative1
- Englishearliest quotation 1715–1720narrative1
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
- 1 Wiktionary, English narrative
- Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1715–1720, Homer, (please specify the book of the Iliad or chapter quoted from: “But wise through time, and narrative with age.”.
Lineage
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEnarrōWiktionary, English narrative‘to narrate’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEnarrātīvusWiktionary, English narrative
- Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600narratifWiktionary, English narrative
- Middle ScotsmodernnarrativeWiktionary, English narrative
- Englishearliest quotation 1715–1720narrativeWiktionary, English narrative. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1715–1720, Homer, (please specify the book of the Iliad or chapter quoted from: “But wise through time, and narrative with age.”
Equivalent to narrāre + -ate + -ive
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *ǵneh₃- ‘to know’
can, know, could, note, normal, notice, recognize, ignore, glory, recognition, con, noble, ken, keen, notion, norm, ignorant, notorious, diagnostic, cognitive, nobility, cunning, prognosis, quaint, gnome, cognition, notoriety, notation, incognito, notary, canny, connoisseur, agnostic, uncouth, kith, gnosis, canna, recognizance, cognizance, annotate, 91 more
Today it means
adj Telling a story.
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “narrative”. 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 / Latin narrō / narrative