Etymograph

English

unaccusativity

Unaccusativity comes from Latin accūsō ‘to blame, reproach, make a complaint against,…’, and goes back to causa ‘cause, reason’.

  1. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcausa1‘cause, reason’
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEaccūsō1‘to blame, reproach, make a complaint against, find fault with’
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEaccūsātīvus1
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500accusative1
  5. English1500–presentaccusative1
  6. Englishtodayunaccusativity1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English unaccusativity

Earlier history uncertain. See Wiktionary.

Lineage

  1. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcausaWiktionary, English unaccusativity‘cause, reason’
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEaccūsōWiktionary, English unaccusativity‘to blame, reproach, make a complaint against, find fault with’
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEaccūsātīvusWiktionary, English unaccusativity
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500accusativeWiktionary, English unaccusativity
  5. English1500–presentaccusativeWiktionary, English unaccusativity
  6. EnglishtodayunaccusativityWiktionary, English unaccusativity

A compound of un- + accusative + -ity

Proto-Indo-European *n̥- ‘not, un-’

Proto-Germanic *un- ‘not, un-’

Proto-West Germanic *un- ‘not, un-’

English un-

Latin causa ‘cause, reason’

Latin accūsō ‘to indict, accuse, arraign, charge’

Latin accūsātīvus

Middle English accusative

English accusative

Linked words

through Latin causa ‘cause, reason’

because, cause, chose, chest, accuse, causal, inexcusable, causative, excusable, 20 more

through Latin accūsō ‘to blame, reproach, make a complaint against,…’

accusation, accuser, 10 more

through Latin accūsātīvus

syllabus, 5 more

through Middle English accusative

accusative, 4 more

Today it means

noun The state or property of being unaccusative.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “unaccusativity”. 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 causa / unaccusativity

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