Where does “carnivore” come from?
Carnivore comes from French carnivore, from Latin carnivorus meaning "flesh-eating," composed of Latin caro meaning "flesh" and voro meaning "to devour," ultimately from Proto-Indo-European roots (s)ker-, sek-, and -ós.
carnivore (English): An organism that feeds chiefly on animals; an...
Definitions
- An organism that feeds chiefly on animals; an...
Ancestry of “carnivore”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | French | carnivore | carnivorous; carnivore |
| 2 | Latin | carnivorus | feeding on flesh, carnivorous, meat-eating |
| 3 | Latin | carō | flesh, meat of an animal |
| 4 | Proto-Italic | karō | piece, portion; meat |
| 5 | Proto-Indo-European | ḱer- | to grow, to make grow, to nourish; to plait,... |
| 6 | Proto-Indo-European | kr̥- | to turn, to bend |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | ker- | army |