Where does “abuser” come from?
Abuser comes from English abuse plus the agent suffix -er, with abuse deriving from Old French abuser, formed from Old French ab- (from Latin ab-, meaning "away from") combined with Latin -usare (a frequentative of Latin -are).
abuser (English): One who abuses someone or something; One who uses...
Definitions
- One who abuses someone or something; One who uses...
Ancestry of “abuser”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | abuse | Improper treatment or usage; application to a... |
| 2 | Middle English | abusen | To misuse; to use improperly |
| 3 | Old French | abus | excess; abuse |
| 4 | Latin | abūsus | having consumed, wasted or misused |
| 5 | Latin | abūtor | to use up, exhaust, consume entirely |
| 6 | Latin | ūtor | to use, make use of, employ |
| 7 | Proto-Slavic | *ǫtorъ | croze |
| 8 | Proto-Slavic | torъ | paddock, pen |
| 9 | Proto-Slavic | terti | to rub, to scrape; to polish |
| 10 | Proto-Indo-European | terh₁- | to rub, turn; to drill, pierce |