Etymograph

English

sublative

Sublative comes from New Latin sublātīvus, from Latin tollō ‘to lift up, to elevate’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *telh₂- ‘to bear, to undergo, to endure’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*telh₂-1‘to bear, to undergo, to endure’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*tl̥néh₂ti1‘to be lifting’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*tolnō1‘to lift, carry’reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEtollō2‘to lift up, to elevate’
  5. New Latinc. 1500–1900sublātīvus2
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1890sublative2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin tollo
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English sublative
  3. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1890, George Thibaut: “Cessation dependent on a sublative act of the mind”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*telh₂-Wiktionary, Latin tollo‘to bear, to undergo, to endure’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*tl̥néh₂tiWiktionary, Latin tollo‘to be lifting’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*tolnōWiktionary, Latin tollo‘to lift, carry’reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEtollōWiktionary, English sublative‘to lift up, to elevate’
  5. New Latinc. 1500–1900sublātīvusWiktionary, English sublative
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1890sublativeWiktionary, English sublative. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1890, George Thibaut: “Cessation dependent on a sublative act of the mind”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *telh₂- ‘to bear, to undergo, to endure’

talent, tolerance, tolerate, tolerant, atlas, intolerable, tolerable, toleration, tellurium, 16 more

through Latin tollō ‘to lift up, to elevate’

toll, extol, 3 more

Today it means

noun A case of nouns in Finno-Ugric languages used to express the destination of movement, originally onto the surface of something (e.g. climb onto a tree), and, by extension, in other figurative meanings as well (e.g. to university, or about (a subject)).

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “sublative”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Latin tollo. 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 *telh₂- / sublative

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