Etymograph

English

numerose

Numerose comes from Latin numerōsus ‘numerous, abundant’, from numerus ‘number’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *nem- ‘to assign, allot’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*nem-1‘to assign, allot’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*nomezos1reconstructed
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEnumerus2‘number’
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEnumerōsus2‘numerous, abundant’
  5. Englishearliest quotation 1683numerose2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin numerus
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English numerose
  3. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1683, Walter Charleton, Three Anatomic Lectures: “[…] For, Mechanic Examples of this kind are every…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*nem-Wiktionary, Latin numerus‘to assign, allot’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*nomezosWiktionary, Latin numerusreconstructed
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEnumerusWiktionary, English numerose‘number’
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEnumerōsusWiktionary, English numerose‘numerous, abundant’
  5. Englishearliest quotation 1683numeroseWiktionary, English numerose. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1683, Walter Charleton, Three Anatomic Lectures: “[…] For, Mechanic Examples of this kind are every…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *nem- ‘to assign, allot’

nomadic, nomad, numb, nim, nome, naam, luma, enumeration, numismatics, enumerate, 29 more

through Latin numerus ‘number’

number, innumerable, 13 more

Today it means

adj —

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “numerose”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Latin numerus. 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 *nem- / numerose

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