Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “chafe” come from?

Chafe comes from Middle English chaufen, from Old French chaufer, from Latin calefacio meaning "to make warm," ultimately from Proto-Indo-European dʰeh₁- meaning "to put" or "to do."

chafe (English): Heat excited by friction; Injury or wear caused...

Definitions

  1. Heat excited by friction; Injury or wear caused...

Ancestry of “chafe”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Middle Englishchaufento warm
2Old Frenchchauferto heat; to heat up; to warm
3Vulgar Latincalefare—
4Latincalefaciō—
5Latinfaciō—
6Latin-toriumnominative neuter singular of -tōrius; accusative...
7Latin-tōrius—
8Latin-tor-er
9Proto-Italic-tōr—
10Proto-Indo-European-tōrDerives agent nouns from verbs, denoting someone...
11Proto-Indo-European-tor-s—

Words derived from “chafe”

  • chafing
  • cockchafer
  • chafer
  • chafingly
  • chafeth
  • chafest
  • chafeweed
  • chafesome
Every word from Proto-Indo-European -tor-s →