English
norm
Norm may come from Latin norma ‘a carpenter's square, a rule, a pattern, a…’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *ǵneh₃- ‘to recognise’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ǵneh₃-1‘to recognise’uncertain
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEγνώμων1‘examiner, carpenter's square’uncertain
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEnorma2‘a carpenter's square, a rule, a pattern, a precept’uncertain
- Englishearliest quotation 2008norm2
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
- 1 Wiktionary, Latin norma
- 2 Wiktionary, English norm
- Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 2008, Dennis Patterson, Ari Afilalo: “[…] the world needs a constitutional moment that will…”.
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ǵneh₃-Wiktionary, Latin norma‘to recognise’uncertain
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEγνώμωνWiktionary, Latin norma‘examiner, carpenter's square’uncertain
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEnormaWiktionary, English norm‘a carpenter's square, a rule, a pattern, a precept’uncertain
- Englishearliest quotation 2008normWiktionary, English norm. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 2008, Dennis Patterson, Ari Afilalo: “[…] the world needs a constitutional moment that will…”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *ǵneh₃- ‘to recognise’
can, could, know, note, notice, recognize, recognition, narrative, con, ken, keen, cognitive, glory, noble, ignore, notion, diagnostic, ignorant, cunning, notorious, cognition, narration, quaint, notation, nobility, prognosis, incognito, canny, gnome, notary, agnostic, notoriety, connoisseur, uncouth, canna, kith, recognizance, cognizance, annotate, cun, 91 more
Today it means
noun That which is normal or typical.
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “norm”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Latin norma. 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 *ǵneh₃- / norm