Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “Terry” come from?

Terry is a shortened form of the name Teresa, which comes from Latin Theresa, ultimately of uncertain origin.

Ancestry of “Terry”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1EnglishterroristA person, group, or organization that uses...
2EnglishTerror—
3Middle Englishterrour—
4Middle Frenchterreurterror
5Old Frenchterreurterror
6Latinterrora dread, terror, great fear, alarm, panic; an...
7Latinfaciō—
8Latin-toriumnominative neuter singular of -tōrius; accusative...
9Latin-tōrius—
10Latin-tor-er
11Proto-Italic-tōr—
12Proto-Indo-European-tōrDerives agent nouns from verbs, denoting someone...
13Proto-Indo-European-tor-s—

Words derived from “Terry”

  • Teri
  • Tezza
Every word from Proto-Indo-European -tor-s →