"I" Word Origins

illegalize

Origin

From illegal + -ize or il- + legalize.

illegally

Origin

From illegal + the adverb-forming suffix -ly.

illegitimacy

Origin

From illegitimate + -cy; may also be analyzed as il- + legitimacy.

illegitimate

Latin

From Latin illegitimus, formed from in- ("not") plus legitimus ("lawful"), likely via Middle French illegitime.

illfare

Origin

From ill- + fare. Compare evilfare, welfare, etc. First attested in c. 1300.

illiberal

Origin

From Middle French illibéral, from Latin illiberalis, equivalent to il- + liberal.

illicit

Latin

Borrowed from French illicite, from Latin illicitus — in- ("not") + licitus ("allowed").

Illinois

French

From French Illinois, adapted from an Algonquian name (often traced to Miami ilenweewa, "he speaks the ordinary way"). The U.S. state took its name from the same source.

illiquidity

Origin

By surface analysis, illiquid + -ity, or, by surface analysis, il- + liquidity. Regarding the metaphors involved, more at liquidity.

illiteracy

Origin

From il- + literacy.

illiterate

Latin

From Latin illiteratus, "unlearned" — in- ("not") + literatus ("lettered, educated").

illness

Origin

From ill + the noun-forming suffix -ness.

illogical

Origin

From il- ("not") + logical.

illude

Origin

From Latin illūdō.

illume

Origin

Clipping of illumine.

illuminate

Latin

From Latin illuminare, "to light up" — in- ("in") + lumen ("light").

illuminating

Origin

From illuminate + -ing.

illumination

Latin

From Latin illuminatio, from illuminare, "to light up."

illumine

Origin

From Middle English illuminen (“to light, light up; to shine; (figuratively) to enlighten spiritually; to make illustrious”) [and other forms], from Old French illuminer (“to light up, illuminate; (figuratively) to enlighten”) (modern French illuminer), from Latin illūmināre, the present active infinitive of illūminō (“to light up, illuminate; to brighten; to adorn; to make conspicuous”), from il- (variant of in- (prefix meaning ‘in, within’; intensifying prefix)) + lūminō (“to illuminate; to brighten; (figuratively) to reveal”) (from lūmen (“light; light source; (poetic) brightness; daylight”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *lewk- (“to shine; to see; bright”)) + -ō (suffix forming regular first-conjugation verbs)).

illusion

Latin

From Old French illusion, from Latin illudere, "to mock or trick" — in- ("upon") + ludere ("to play").

illusionist

Origin

From illusion + -ist.

illusive

Latin

From Latin illudere 'to mock or play upon', the same root that gives illusion.

illusory

Origin

Borrowed from Middle French illusorie (modern French illusoire), derived from Latin illūsōrius (“mocking, ironical”).

illustrate

Latin

A back-formation from illustration, ultimately from Latin illustrare, "to light up, make clear."

illustration

Latin

From Latin illustratio, from illustrare, "to make clear, light up."

illustrator

Origin

From illustrate + -or.

illustrious

Latin

From Latin illustris, "bright, distinguished," from illustrare, "to brighten, make famous."

ilmenite

Origin

Named after Ilmen Mountains in Russia + -ite in 1827.

Ilona

Origin

From Hungarian Ilona. A rare variant of Helen or Helena.

ILY

English

An initialism of 'I love you'.

Ilya

Russian

From Russian Илья́ (Ilʹjá). Doublet of Elijah.

Ilyich

Russian

Borrowed from Russian Ильи́ч (Ilʹíč).

Im

Origin

Borrowed from Korean 임(林) (Im) or Korean 임(任) (Im).

Ima

Origin

From I'm or I'm going to.

image

Latin

From Old French image, tracing back to Latin imago, meaning "a likeness or copy." Related to the word "imitate."

imageboard

Origin

Compound of image + board.

imager

Origin

From Middle English ymageour, from Old French imageor; equivalent to image + -er.

imagery

Middle French

From Middle French imagerie, built from "image" plus the suffix "-ry," originally referring to the craft of making pictures or statues.

imaginable

Latin

From Latin imaginabilis, built on imago ("image"), by way of "imagine" plus the suffix "-able."

imaginary

Latin · 1637

From Latin imaginarius, "relating to images or fancies." The mathematical sense was coined by René Descartes in 1637, who used it dismissively for numbers he thought couldn't really exist — the name stuck even after mathematicians accepted the concept.

imagination

Latin

From Old French imaginacion, from Latin imaginatio, built on the verb imaginari ("to picture to oneself").

imaginative

Medieval Latin

From Middle French imaginatif, from Medieval Latin imaginativus, built on "imagine" plus "-ative."

imagine

Latin

From Old French imaginer, from Latin imaginari, built on imago ("image, likeness").

Imai

Japanese

Borrowed from Japanese 今井 (Imai).

imam

Arabic

From Arabic imam, meaning "leader."

iman

Arabic

From Arabic "iman," itself from a verb meaning "to believe" or "to trust."

IMAO

English

Most often a mistyping of LMAO, the i and l keys being adjacent. Also used deliberately as an initialism of 'in my arrogant opinion', a joking variant of IMO.

imbalance

Origin

Formed from "im-" (a form of "in-," meaning "not") plus "balance."