Where does “Nazism” come from?
Nazism derives from Nazi, which combines the German political term Nazi with the Ancient Greek suffix -ισμός, itself from -μός, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European -mós, a productive suffix forming abstract nouns.
Ancestry of “Nazism”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | English | Nazi | A member of the National Socialist German Workers... |
| 2 | German | Nazi | a member or supporter of the NSDAP, Nazism, or... |
| 3 | German | Nationalsozialist | National Socialist |
| 4 | German | national | national; nationwide, national; nationalist |
| 5 | French | national | national |
| 6 | French | nation | nation |
| 7 | Middle French | nation | nation |
| 8 | Old French | nacion | birth; nation |
| 9 | Latin | nātiō | — |
| 10 | Latin | nātus | — |
| 11 | Latin | gnātus | — |
| 12 | Proto-Italic | gnātos | — |
| 13 | Proto-Indo-European | ǵn̥h₁tós | begotten, produced |
| 14 | Proto-Indo-European | ǵenh₁- | to produce, to beget, to give birth |
Words derived from “Nazism”