Where does “eloquent” come from?
eloquent (Dutch) comes from Middle French eloquent, from Old French eloquent, from Latin eloquens, from Latin eloqui, from Latin e-, from Latin ex-, from Latin e, from Latin ex — whale, sea monster; abyss.
eloquent (Dutch): eloquent
Ancestry of “eloquent”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | Middle French | eloquent | eloquent |
| 2 | Old French | eloquent | — |
| 3 | Latin | eloquens | eloquent, articulate |
| 4 | Latin | eloqui | present active infinitive of ēloquor; to speak... |
| 5 | Latin | e- | Alternative form of ex-; out of; out, utterly |
| 6 | Latin | ex- | out, away; throughout; thoroughly |
| 7 | Latin | e | The name of the letter "E"; out of, from |
| 8 | Latin | ex | A name of the letter "X"; out of, from |
| 9 | Latin | commūnicō | — |
| 10 | Latin | commūnis | — |
| 11 | Old Latin | com(m)oinis | — |
| 12 | Proto-Italic | kommoinis | — |
| 13 | Proto-Indo-European | ḱom-moy-ni- | held in common |
| 14 | Proto-Indo-European | ḱóm | beside, near, by, with |
| 15 | Proto-Indo-European | ḱe | Deictic particle, here; Post-positional... |
| 16 | Middle English | kyt | — |
| 17 | Russian | кит | whale; genitive plural of ки́та |
| 18 | Old Church Slavonic | китъ | whale |
| 19 | Ancient Greek | κῆτος | whale, sea monster; abyss |