Where does “abbreviate” come from?
Abbreviate comes from Middle English abbreviaten, from Latin abbreviāre meaning to shorten, composed of the prefix ad- and a root from Proto-Indo-European mréǵʰus.
abbreviate (English): To shorten by omitting parts or details; To speak...
Definitions
- To shorten by omitting parts or details; To speak...
Ancestry of “abbreviate”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Middle English | abbreviaten | — |
| 2 | Latin | abbreviātus | shortened, abbreviated |
| 3 | Latin | abbreviō | to shorten, abbreviate, abridge |
| 4 | Latin | ad- | to; usually prefixed to verbs, in which cases it... |
| 5 | Latin | īn- | un-, non-, not |
| 6 | Latin | în | in, at, on, upon, from (space) |
| 7 | Latin | en | lookǃ beholdǃ; reallyǃ?; come onǃ |
| 8 | Proto-Italic | en | in |
| 9 | Proto-Indo-European | h₁én | in |