Where does “compassionate” come from?
Compassionate derives from French compassionné, the past participle of French compassionner, formed with the French verb-forming suffix -er from Latin -āre, combined with the Latin prefix com- meaning "together."
compassionate (English): Having, feeling or showing compassion; Given to...
Definitions
- Having, feeling or showing compassion; Given to...
Ancestry of “compassionate”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | French | compassionné | past participle of compassionner |
| 2 | French | compassionner | to pity, feel sorry for |
| 3 | French | compassion | compassion, pity |
| 4 | Ecclesiastical Latin | compassio | sympathy; fellow suffering; sympathy, agreement,... |
| 5 | Latin | compatior | to suffer (with one); have compassion, (feel) pity |
| 6 | Latin | cōn- | Used in compounds to indicate a being or bringing together of several objects |
| 7 | Latin | cum | with, along with; at; -fold |
| 8 | Old Latin | com | Alternative form of cum |
| 9 | Proto-Italic | kom | with, along, at |
| 10 | Proto-Indo-European | ḱóm | beside, near, by, with |
| 11 | Proto-Indo-European | ḱe | Deictic particle, here; Post-positional... |
| 12 | Middle English | kyt | — |
| 13 | German | kitt | putty certain kinds of cement used for fixing e.g. window panes |
| 14 | Old High German | kuti | — |
| 15 | Proto-West Germanic | kwidu | gum, resin |
| 16 | Proto-Germanic | kweduz | resin |
| 17 | Proto-Indo-European | gʷet- | resin, gum; to say, speak |
| 18 | Proto-Indo-European | gū- | to bend; curve; arch; vault; to bow, bend, arch,... |