Etymograph

English

nummular

Nummular comes from Latin nummulus ‘money’, from Doric Greek νοῦμμος ‘nummus, a coin used by the Romans’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *nem-.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*nem-1root named by Wiktionary · steps between not traced
  2. Doric Greekmodernνοῦμμος2‘nummus, a coin used by the Romans’
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEnummus3‘piece of money’
  4. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEnummulus1‘money’
  5. Englishtodaynummular1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English nummular
  2. 2 Wiktionary, Latin nummus
  3. 3 Wiktionary, Latin nummulus

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*nem-Wiktionary, English nummularroot named by Wiktionary · steps between not traced
  2. Doric GreekmodernνοῦμμοςWiktionary, Latin nummus‘nummus, a coin used by the Romans’
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEnummusWiktionary, Latin nummulus‘piece of money’
  4. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEnummulusWiktionary, English nummular‘money’
  5. EnglishtodaynummularWiktionary, English nummular

The story

From Latin nummulus (‘(small amount of) money’) + English -ar (suffix forming adjectives with the sense ‘of, pertaining to, or near’). Nummulus is the diminutive of nummus (‘a coin; piece of money’) + -ulus (diminutive suffix); while nummus is from Doric Greek νοῦμμος (noûmmos), from Ancient Greek νόμος (nómos, “kind of coin”), from νέμω (némō, “to deal out, dispense, distribute”) (from Proto-Indo-European *nem- (‘to distribute; to give; to take’)) + -ος (-os, suffix forming nouns).

Full etymology on Wiktionary

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *nem-

number, numerous, nomadic, nomad, numb, nim, innumerable, nome, numeric, numeral, naam, enumeration, numeracy, numero, enumerate, luma, numerator, numismatics, 24 more

Today it means

adj Of or relating to coins or money.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “nummular”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Latin nummus, Latin nummulus. 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- / nummular

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