Where does “adaptor” come from?

Adaptor comes from English adapt, from Middle French adapter, from Latin adaptare meaning "to fit to," composed of the prefix ad- meaning "to" and the root h₂ep- meaning "to fasten or fit."

adaptor (English): Alternative form of adapter

Definitions

  1. Alternative form of adapter

Ancestry of “adaptor”, step by step

adaptor traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.

via English ‐or

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1English‐orCreates an agent noun, often from a verb, indicating a person or object (often machines or parts of them) that do the verb or part of speech with which they are formed
2Middle English-our
3Old French-eorAlternative form of -or
4Latin-ator-ator, -er; second-person singular future passive...
5Latin-tor-er
6Proto-Italic-tōrForms agent nouns to verb stems
7Proto-Indo-European-tōrDerives agent nouns from verbs, denoting someone...
8Proto-Indo-European-tor-s

via English adapt

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1EnglishadaptTo make suitable; to make to correspond; to fit...
2Middle English*adapten

Words derived from “adaptor

Every word from Proto-Indo-European -tor-sEvery word from Latin -torEvery word from Middle English -our