Where does “atrocity” come from?
Atrocity comes from Middle French atrocité, from Latin atrox meaning savage or cruel, from Latin ater meaning dark or gloomy, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European h₂eh₁ter-.
atrocity (English): An extremely cruel act; a horrid act of...
Definitions
- An extremely cruel act; a horrid act of...
Ancestry of “atrocity”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Middle French | atrocité | — |
| 2 | Latin | atrocitas | atrocity; hardship, suffering, tragedy, disaster |
| 3 | Latin | -tās | ty, -dom, -hood, -ness, -ship |
| 4 | Proto-Indo-European | -teh₂ts | Used to form nouns representing state of being |
| 5 | Proto-Indo-European | -teh₂ | Used to form nouns representing state of being |
| 6 | Proto-Indo-European | -tós | Creates verbal adjectives from verb stems |