Etymograph

English

summary

Summary (noun) is borrowed from Medieval Latin summārium, from Latin summa ‘total, sum’.

  1. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEsumma1‘total, sum’
  2. Medieval Latinc. 600–1500summārium1
  3. Englishearliest quotation 1978summary1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English summary
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1978, 1976, Leszek Kołakowski: “Bernstein's critique of the philosophical basis of Marxism and…”.

Lineage

  1. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEsummaWiktionary, English summary‘total, sum’
  2. Medieval Latinc. 600–1500summāriumWiktionary, English summary
  3. Englishearliest quotation 1978summaryWiktionary, English summary. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1978, 1976, Leszek Kołakowski: “Bernstein's critique of the philosophical basis of Marxism and…”

Word family

English words that share an ancestor with summary, grouped by the ancestor they share, most familiar first.

through Proto-Indo-European *upér ‘above’

  • over ← ofer ← *obar ← *uber
  • superior ← superiour ← super ← *super
  • uber ← ubiri ← *ubiri ← *upéri
  • supervise ← supervisus ← super ← *super

through Proto-Italic *super ‘above’

through Proto-Italic *superos ‘upper’

  • supra ← suprād ← *superād

through Latin superus ‘upper, higher’

  • supreme ← suppreme ← suppreme ← suprēmus

through Latin summa ‘total, sum’

  • sum ← summe ← summe
  • consummate ← consummat(e) ← cōnsummātus ← cōnsummō

45 more relatives in the full family tree

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Another origin of summary

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*úpreconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*upér‘above’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*super‘above’reconstructed
  4. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*superos‘upper’reconstructed
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEsuperus‘upper, higher’
  6. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEsumma‘total, sum’superlative of superus
  7. Medieval Latinc. 600–1500summārium
  8. Englishtodaysummary

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Today it means

adj Concise, brief, or presented in a condensed form; presenting information in such a form.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “summary”. 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 / Latin summa / summary