entry
ubiquitous
/juːˈbɪk.wə.təs/Present, appearing, or found everywhere
From Latin ubī (where).
from Medieval Latin ubīquitās
from Medieval Latin ubīquitās
from Latin ubīque (“everywhere”)
from Medieval Latin ubīquitās
Word Ancestry
from Medieval Latin ubīquitās
from Medieval Latin ubīquitās
from Latin ubīque (“everywhere”)
from Medieval Latin ubīquitās
A word that now describes Wi-Fi, advertisements, and coffee shops began as theological equipment. In the 1570s, English writers borrowed Latin ubīquitās, a term for God’s ability to be present everywhere at once; its ancestor ubīque literally joined “where” to an old particle meaning “and, ever.” Wait, really? The tiny ending -que is a distant cousin of Sanskrit -ca, Greek -te, and Gothic -uh, all descendants of a particle that helped turn “where” into “everywhere.” English first tried the more Latin-looking ubiquitous’s predecessor, ubiquitary, around 1600, before ubiquitous settled in around 1800. When you call something ubiquitous, you are quietly giving an ordinary object a theological superpower: it has become present everywhere, or at least irritatingly hard to avoid.
The Story
A word that now describes Wi-Fi, advertisements, and coffee shops began as theological equipment. In the 1570s, English writers borrowed Latin ubīquitās, a term for God’s ability to be present everywhere at once; its ancestor ubīque literally joined “where” to an old particle meaning “and, ever.” Wait, really? The tiny ending -que is a distant cousin of Sanskrit -ca, Greek -te, and Gothic -uh, all descendants of a particle that helped turn “where” into “everywhere.” English first tried the more Latin-looking ubiquitous’s predecessor, ubiquitary, around 1600, before ubiquitous settled in around 1800. When you call something ubiquitous, you are quietly giving an ordinary object a theological superpower: it has become present everywhere, or at least irritatingly hard to avoid.
Modern Usage
Informal usage meaning extremely common or omnipresent
Notable References
- Urban Dictionary entries gloss it as “common” or “omnipresent”
Kin & Kindred
From 'ubī'·where
Derived Terms
English words from this root
From '-que'·and; each, ever
Derived Terms
English words from this root
From '-ous'·full of; characterized by
Derived Terms
English words from this root
Sources
Etymonline
Free Dictionary
Urban Dictionary
Wikipedia
Wiktionary