Where does “assailant” come from?
Assailant comes from Old French asaillant, derived from Old French asaillir, from Latin assilio meaning to jump at or leap upon, formed from Latin ad- (to) and Latin ser- (to jump).
assailant (English): Someone who attacks or assails another violently,...
Definitions
- Someone who attacks or assails another violently,...
Ancestry of “assailant”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | French | assaillant | assailant; assailling |
| 2 | French | assaillir | to assail; to assault; to attack |
| 3 | Old French | assalir | to jump on; to attack; to assault |
| 4 | Latin | assaliō | to jump on, attack |
| 5 | Latin | ad- | to; usually prefixed to verbs, in which cases it... |
| 6 | Latin | īn- | un-, non-, not |
| 7 | Latin | în | in, at, on, upon, from (space) |
| 8 | Latin | en | lookǃ beholdǃ; reallyǃ?; come onǃ |
| 9 | Proto-Italic | en | in |
| 10 | Proto-Indo-European | h₁én | in |