You see it right, Fellas. We will discuss the word ‘gratis’ today.
I knew ‘gratis’ as a Dutch word when I attended a short Dutch course several months ago. At that time, I thought that ‘gratis’ had originally been brought by Dutch in colonization era and then we adopted it into Indonesian vocabulary. However, It surprised me when I found the word ‘gratis’ in English written book I am currently reading.
After I did a brief research, ‘gratis’ is originally Latin. It means kindness or thankful. You might find there are other sources, such as Collins dictionary and Merriam-webster, stated ‘gratis’ is also borrowed from the word ‘gratia’ which means favour. It is known that people started to be familiar with this word in late Middle English period (15th century.)
As an English vocabulary, ‘gratis’ shares the same meaning to Dutch or Indonesian. ‘Gratis’ means free or without (money) charge. In addition, it can be an adverb or an adjective.
Example:
- “You don’t need to pay for this hamburger. It’s gratis.”
- “I got this bicycle gratis for winning a competition.”
- “You can get a gratis ice cream if you show this coupon to McD staff.”
Latin is well-known as a universal language, especially in science. So, you may find it in other literature, too, e.g., German, Italian, and Portuguese.
Additional source:
- http://www.online-latin-dictionary.com/latin-english-dictionary.php?lemma=GRATUS100
- en.oxforddictionaries.com
Compiled and written by @mettaa_ for @EnglishTips4u on Tuesday, April 25, 2017.
