Where does “convulsively” come from?
Convulsively comes from English convulsive, from French convulsif, combining Latin con- meaning with and convellere meaning to pull together, with the adjective-forming suffix -ivus from Proto-Indo-European -iHwós.
convulsively (English): In a convulsive manner
Ancestry of “convulsively”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | English | convulsive | Marked by or having the nature of convulsions;... |
| 2 | French | convulsif | convulsive |
| 3 | French | convulsion | convulsion |
| 4 | Latin | convulsiō | — |
| 5 | Latin | convulsus | shattered, battered, convulsed; overthrown |
| 6 | Latin | convellere | third-person plural perfect active indicative of... |
| 7 | Latin | convello | I shatter, batter, convulse; I overthrow |
| 8 | Latin | vello | I pluck out; I depilate; I pull or tear down; I... |
| 9 | Proto-Italic | welnō | — |
| 10 | Proto-Indo-European | welh₃- | to hit, to strike |