Where does “beast” come from?

Beast comes from Middle English beste, from Old English betst, from Latin bestia, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European bʰedʰ-, meaning to split or divide.

beast (English): Any animal other than a human; usually only...

Definitions

  1. Any animal other than a human; usually only...

Ancestry of “beast”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Middle Englishbestebest; superlative degree of good; best;...
2Old Frenchbestebeast, animal
3Latinbēstiaa beast

Words derived from “beast

Every word from Latin bēstia