Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “Calvinist” come from?

Calvinist derives from English Calvin combined with the Latin suffix -ista, from Ancient Greek -ιστής, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European roots related to baldness and the verb -yéti.

Calvinist (English): A follower of Calvinism; Of or pertaining to...

Definitions

  1. A follower of Calvinism; Of or pertaining to...

Ancestry of “Calvinist”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1English-istAdded to words to form nouns denoting
2Old French-iste—
3Latin-ista-ist; one who practises or believes
4Ancient Greek-ιστήςAlternative form of -τής; -ist
5Ancient Greek-τήςAppended to verbs to form agent nouns
6Proto-Hellenic-tās—
Every word from Proto-Hellenic -tās →