Where does “chastity” come from?
Chastity comes from Middle English chastite, from Old French chasteté, from Latin castitas (state of being pure), derived from Latin castus (pure) with the suffix -teh₂, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European kesa.
chastity (English): The quality of being chaste: the state of...
Definitions
- The quality of being chaste: the state of...
Ancestry of “chastity”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Middle English | chastite | — |
| 2 | Old French | chasteté | — |
| 3 | Latin | castitas | purity; morality; chastity |
| 4 | Latin | castus | morally pure, guiltless; pure, chaste, free from... |
| 5 | Latin | careō | to lack, be without. (usually with ablative), to be deprived of |
| 6 | Proto-Italic | kazēō | to lack |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | ḱes-éh₁-ye-ti | — |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | ḱes- | to cut off, separate; to cut up, to slaughter; to... |