Where does “cantankerous” come from?
cantankerous (English) comes from English contenkerous, from English contentious, from Middle French contentieux, from Latin contentiosus, from Latin contentio, from Latin contendere, from Latin com-, from Latin con- — resin.
cantankerous (English): Given to or marked by an ill-tempered nature;...
Definitions
- Given to or marked by an ill-tempered nature;...
Ancestry of “cantankerous”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | contenkerous | — |
| 2 | English | contentious | Marked by heated arguments or controversy; Given... |
| 3 | Middle French | contentieux | — |
| 4 | Latin | contentiosus | contentious, disputatious; headstrong, obstinate,... |
| 5 | Latin | contentio | stretching, tension; competition, rivalry;... |
| 6 | Latin | contendere | third-person plural perfect active indicative of... |
| 7 | Latin | com- | allomorph of con- |
| 8 | Latin | con- | Used in compounds to indicate a being or bringing... |
| 9 | Latin | cum | with, along with; at; -fold |
| 10 | Old Latin | com | Alternative form of cum |
| 11 | Proto-Italic | kom | with, along, at |
| 12 | Proto-Indo-European | ḱóm | beside, near, by, with |
| 13 | Proto-Indo-European | ḱe | Deictic particle, here; Post-positional... |
| 14 | Middle English | kyt | — |
| 15 | German | kitt | putty certain kinds of cement used for fixing e.g. window panes |
| 16 | Old High German | kuti | — |
| 17 | Proto-West Germanic | kwidu | gum, resin |
| 18 | Proto-Germanic | kweduz | resin |