Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “altruistic” come from?

Altruistic comes from French altruiste, formed from Latin altrui with the suffix -icus, which derives from Proto-Indo-European -kos.

altruistic (English): Regardful of others; beneficent; unselfish

Definitions

  1. Regardful of others; beneficent; unselfish

Ancestry of “altruistic”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1English-icUsed to form adjectives from nouns with the...
2EnglishimageAn optical or other representation of a real...
3Frenchimagepicture, image; frame; first-person singular...
4Portugueseimagemimage; picture; figure; image; image; face
5Spanishimagenimage
6Italianimmagineimage; imago
7Latinimāginem—
8Latinim-Alternative form of in-; form of "in"; in
9Latinīn-—
10Latinîn—
11Latinenlookǃ beholdǃ; reallyǃ?; come onǃ
12Proto-Italicenin
13Proto-Indo-Europeanh₁énin

Words derived from “altruistic”

  • altruistically
  • nonaltruistic
  • unaltruistic
  • nonaltruistically
  • unaltruistically
  • hyperaltruistic
  • antialtruistic
Every word from Proto-Indo-European h₁én →