Where does “complain” come from?
Complain comes from Middle English complaynen, from Old French complaindre, from Medieval Latin complangere, ultimately from Latin cum meaning "with."
complain (English): To express feelings of pain, dissatisfaction, or...
Definitions
- To express feelings of pain, dissatisfaction, or...
Ancestry of “complain”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Middle English | complaynen | — |
| 2 | Old French | complaindre | Alternative form of conplaindre |
| 3 | Old French | conplaindre | to complain; to make a complaint |
| 4 | Medieval Latin | complangere | to bewail, complain |
| 5 | Latin | com- | allomorph of con- |
| 6 | Latin | con- | Used in compounds to indicate a being or bringing... |
| 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 |