Where does “bureaucrat” come from?
Bureaucrat comes from French bureaucrate, derived from French bureaucratie, blending French bureau with Ancient Greek -κρατία meaning rule, ultimately from Ancient Greek κράτος meaning power, traced through Latin burrus and Ancient Greek πυρρός to Ancient Greek βοῦς meaning ox.
bureaucrat (English): An official who is part of a bureaucracy; A wiki...
Definitions
- An official who is part of a bureaucracy; A wiki...
Ancestry of “bureaucrat”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | French | bureaucrate | bureaucrat |
| 2 | French | bureaucratie | bureaucracy |
| 3 | French | bureau | desk; office; ticket office |
| 4 | Middle French | burel | — |
| 5 | Old French | burel | frieze; a garment made out of frieze |
| 6 | Old French | -el | Suffix that usually denotes a masculine noun |
| 7 | Latin | -ellus | Alternative form of -ulus; "forming masculine... |
| 8 | Latin | -ulus | Used to form a diminutive of a noun, indicating... |
| 9 | Proto-Italic | -olos | — |
| 10 | Proto-Italic | -elos | — |
| 11 | Proto-Indo-European | -e-lós | — |
| 12 | Proto-Indo-European | -lós | Forms agent nouns from verbal roots |
Words derived from “bureaucrat”