Where does “abstruse” come from?
Abstruse comes from French abstrus, from Latin abstrusus meaning "hidden," derived from Latin abstrudo combining ab- "away" with the root trewd- "to push."
abstruse (English): Difficult to comprehend or understand; Concealed...
Definitions
- Difficult to comprehend or understand; Concealed...
Ancestry of “abstruse”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | Latin | abstrūsus | — |
| 2 | Latin | abstrūdō | — |
| 3 | Latin | ab- | from, away, away from; off; at a distance |
| 4 | Latin | āb | — |
| 5 | Proto-Germanic | *ab | — |
| 6 | Proto-Indo-European | apó | — |
Words derived from “abstruse”