'normativity' originates from Latin, specifically the word 'norma', where 'norma' meant 'carpenter's square' or 'rule', combined with the adjectival suffix '-ative' (from Latin '-ativus') and the noun-forming suffix '-ity' (from Latin '-itas').

'normativity' changed from Latin 'norma' into Old French 'norme' and Middle English 'norme'/'norm', later forming the adjective 'normative' in Modern English and then the noun 'normativity' to denote the quality or state of being normative.

Initially, 'norma' meant a physical 'carpenter's square' or a 'rule' for measurement; over time the sense generalized to 'rule' or 'standard' and eventually came to mean the modern abstract idea of 'the quality of being prescriptive or rule-governing' (normativity).