Etymograph

English

rivality

Rivality comes from Latin rivalitas ‘rivalship, rivalry (in love)’, from rīvālis ‘of or pertaining to a brook’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₃reyH- ‘to move, set in motion’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₃reyH-1‘to move, set in motion’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₃riHwós1reconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*rīwos1reconstructed
  4. Archaic Latinc. 700–75 BCErīvos1
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CErīvus1‘a small stream (of water)’
  6. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CErīvālis1‘of or pertaining to a brook’
  7. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CErivalitas2‘rivalship, rivalry (in love)’
  8. Englishtodayrivality2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin rivalitas
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English rivality

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₃reyH-Wiktionary, Latin rivalitas‘to move, set in motion’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₃riHwósWiktionary, Latin rivalitasreconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*rīwosWiktionary, Latin rivalitasreconstructed
  4. Archaic Latinc. 700–75 BCErīvosWiktionary, Latin rivalitas
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CErīvusWiktionary, Latin rivalitas‘a small stream (of water)’
  6. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CErīvālisWiktionary, Latin rivalitas‘of or pertaining to a brook’
  7. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CErivalitasWiktionary, English rivality‘rivalship, rivalry (in love)’
  8. EnglishtodayrivalityWiktionary, English rivality

Formed from rival + -ity

Latin rīvālis ‘of or pertaining to a brook’

English rival

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *h₃reyH- ‘to move, set in motion’

ride, riding, raid, rin, irritable, irritate, ritter, overridden, ern, 12 more

through Latin rīvus ‘a small stream (of water)’

derivative, ria, derivation, 4 more

Today it means

noun rivalry; competition

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “rivality”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Latin rivalitas. 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 *h₃reyH- / rivality

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