Where does “correct” come from?
Correct comes from French correct, derived from Latin correctus, the past participle of corrigere, meaning to make straight or set right, from com- and regere, to rule or direct.
correct (English): Free from error; true; accurate; With good...
Definitions
- Free from error; true; accurate; With good...
Ancestry of “correct”, step by step
correct traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via Middle English correcten
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Middle English | correcten | — |
| 2 | Anglo-Norman | correcter | — |
| 3 | Latin | correctus | corrected; straightened; improved |
| 4 | Latin | corrigēre | — |
| 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 |
| 18 | Proto-Indo-European | gū- | to bend; curve; arch; vault; to bow, bend, arch,... |
via French correct
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | French | correct | correct, right; passable, okay; OK, fine, alright |