Where does “Romanist” come from?

Romanist comes from English Roman plus the suffix -ista from Latin, derived from Ancient Greek -ιστής, ultimately tracing through Latin -anus and Proto-Italic -os.

Romanist (English): A student of ancient Rome; A Roman Catholic

Definitions

  1. A student of ancient Rome; A Roman Catholic

Ancestry of “Romanist”, 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