Where does “surprise” come from?
surprise (Dutch) comes from French surprise, from French surpris, from French surprendre, from Middle French surprendre, from Old French sorprendre, from Old French sur-, from Latin super-, from Ancient Greek συμμετρία — Derives agent nouns from verbs, denoting someone...
surprise (Dutch): a gift wrapped in an ingenious or creative...
Definitions
- a gift wrapped in an ingenious or creative...
Ancestry of “surprise”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | French | surprise | feminine singular of the past participle of... |
| 2 | French | surpris | surprised; past participle of surprendre;... |
| 3 | French | surprendre | to surprise; to catch out |
| 4 | Middle French | surprendre | to surprise; to take over; to seize |
| 5 | Old French | sorprendre | to surprise; to seize; to take control of; to... |
| 6 | Old French | sur- | over, on top of |
| 7 | Latin | super- | super-; over, above |
| 8 | Ancient Greek | συμμετρία | commensurability; symmetry, due proportion; a... |
| 9 | Ancient Greek | σύμμετρος | symmetrical |
| 10 | Ancient Greek | μέτρον | something used to measure: measure, rule, weight;... |
| 11 | Ancient Greek | -τρον | Forms instrument nouns |
| 12 | Proto-Hellenic | -tron | Forms instrument nouns from verb stems |
| 13 | Proto-Indo-European | -trom | Forms nouns denoting a tool or instrument |
| 14 | Proto-Indo-European | -tḗr | Derives agent nouns from verbs, denoting someone... |