Where does “candidate” come from?
Candidate comes from Latin candidatus, from Latin candidus meaning "white," ultimately from Proto-Indo-European kand- with the suffix -tós.
candidate (English): A person who is running in an election; A person...
Definitions
- A person who is running in an election; A person...
Ancestry of “candidate”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Latin | candidātus | dressed in white |
| 2 | Latin | candidus | shining white; clear, bright; fair, beautiful |
| 3 | Latin | candeō | to be brilliant, glittering or illuminated; to shine, glitter, glisten; gleam white |
| 4 | Proto-Italic | kandēō | — |
| 5 | Proto-Indo-European | kand- | to shine, glow |