Immense: The PIE root *meh₁- (to measure)… | etymologist.ai
immense
/ɪˈmɛns/·adjective·c. 1425·Established
Origin
From Latin 'in-' (not) + 'mēnsus' (measured), from PIE *meh₁- — literally 'unmeasured,' too large to quantify.
Definition
Extremely large or great, especially in scale or degree.
The Full Story
Latin15th centurywell-attested
From Latin immēnsus (unmeasured, immeasurable, boundless, vast), composed of in- (not, un-) and mēnsus, the past participle of mētīrī (to measure), from PIE *meh₁- (to measure). Something immense is, at root, that which has not been measured — so vast or so great that no measure cancontain it. The PIE root *meh₁- is the source of one of the richest measurement clusters in English: measure itself (via Old
Did you know?
ThePIEroot *meh₁- (to measure) connects 'immense' to some unexpected relatives. 'Moon' comes from this root — the moon was the original time-measurer, markingmonths (another relative). 'Meal' (as in mealtime) originally meant 'a measured time.' 'Medicine' (from Latin 'medērī,' to heal) may also descend from *meh₁-, with
French mesure from Latin mensura), meter and metric (via Greek métron), dimension (from Latin dimensiō, a measuring out), commensurate (from Latin commensurare, to measure together), and even moon — because the moon was the principal