English
neuter
Neuter comes from Latin neuter.
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
- 1 Wiktionary, English neuter
- Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1571, Arthur Golding, Epistle Dedicatorie: “But if you should beecome eyther a counterfayt Protestant,…”.
Lineage
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEneuterWiktionary, English neuter
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500neutreWiktionary, English neuter
- Englishearliest quotation 1571neuterWiktionary, English neuter. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1571, Arthur Golding, Epistle Dedicatorie: “But if you should beecome eyther a counterfayt Protestant,…”
A compound of ne ‘not’ + uter ‘either’
Proto-Indo-European *né ‘not’
Proto-Indo-European *méh₁ ‘prohibitive particle: "don't ...!"’
Proto-Indo-European *néh₁
Proto-Italic *nē ‘not’
Archaic Latin nei
Latin ne ‘not’
Proto-Indo-European *kʷ- ‘the primary interrogative root’
Proto-Indo-European *kʷos
Proto-Indo-European *kʷóteros ‘which (of two)?’
Proto-Italic *kʷoteros ‘both’
Latin uter ‘either’
Linked words
through Latin neuter
force, marvel, mandate, neutral, menstrual, coliseum, rapunzel, colosseum, cabeza, legate, cadenza, 11 more
Today it means
adj Neutral; on neither side; neither one thing nor another.
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “neuter”. 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 neuter / neuter