Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “Cicero” come from?

Cicero derives from Latin Cicero, a cognomen whose origin is uncertain but may relate to Latin cicer, a type of legume, with the masculine nominative suffix Latin -us continuing Old Latin -os, Proto-Italic -os, and Proto-Indo-European -ós.

Ancestry of “Cicero”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1LatinCicerō—
2Latincicerchickpea; testicle
3Proto-Indo-Europeanḱiḱer-pea
Every word from Proto-Indo-European ḱiḱer- →