Where does “Esperanto” come from?
Esperanto comes from French espérer, derived from Latin sperare, meaning to hope or expect.
Esperanto (English): An international auxiliary language designed by L. L. Zamenhof
Definitions
- An international auxiliary language designed by L. L. Zamenhof
Ancestry of “Esperanto”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Esperanto | Esperanto | Esperanto; one who hopes |
| 2 | Esperanto | esperi | to hope |
| 3 | Portuguese | esperar | to wait; to hope; to expect; to anticipate |
| 4 | Old Portuguese | asperar | — |
| 5 | Old Spanish | esperar | to wait for, await |
| 6 | Latin | spērō | to hope, expect |
| 7 | Latin | spes | hope; expectation, anticipation, apprehension |
| 8 | Proto-Italic | spēs | hope |
| 9 | Proto-Indo-European | spéh₁s | prosperity, success |
| 10 | Proto-Indo-European | speh₁- | to succeed, to prosper |