Etymograph

English

ubicity

Ubicity comes from Latin ubi ‘where’, and perhaps goes back to Proto-Indo-European *kʷ- ‘the primary interrogative root’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*kʷ-1‘the primary interrogative root’uncertain
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*kú2‘where’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*kʷudʰei3‘where?’uncertain
  4. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*kʷuðei3‘where’uncertain
  5. Old Latinc. 700–75 BCEcubī3
  6. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEubi4‘where’
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1922ubicity4

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Proto-Indo-European *kú
  2. 2 Wiktionary, Proto-Indo-European *kúdʰe
  3. 3 Wiktionary, Latin ubi
  4. 4 Wiktionary, English ubicity
  5. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1922, James Joyce: “And as no man knows the ubicity of his…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*kʷ-Wiktionary, Proto-Indo-European *kú‘the primary interrogative root’uncertain
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*kúWiktionary, Proto-Indo-European *kúdʰe‘where’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*kʷudʰeiWiktionary, Latin ubi‘where?’uncertain
  4. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*kʷuðeiWiktionary, Latin ubi‘where’uncertain
  5. Old Latinc. 700–75 BCEcubīWiktionary, Latin ubi
  6. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEubiWiktionary, English ubicity‘where’
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1922ubicityWiktionary, English ubicity. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1922, James Joyce: “And as no man knows the ubicity of his…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *kʷ- ‘the primary interrogative root’

what, when, who, how, which, where, why, whether, whose, whom, neutral, quantity, rapunzel, quip, whither, cadenza, 12 more

through Latin ubi ‘where’

ubiquitous, ubiquity, 7 more

Today it means

noun whereabouts, location

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “ubicity”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Proto-Indo-European *kú, Proto-Indo-European *kúdʰe, Latin ubi. 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 *kʷ- / ubicity

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