Where does “corsair” come from?
Corsair comes from French corsaire, from Italian corsaro, from Latin -arius, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European ḱers-.
corsair (English): A French privateer, especially from the port of...
Definitions
- A French privateer, especially from the port of...
Ancestry of “corsair”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | French | corsaire | privateer; corsair; private |
| 2 | Italian | corsaro | privateering, pirate; a privateer, corsair |
| 3 | Medieval Latin | cursarius | pirate, sea-raider; pirate, sea-raider, corsair;... |
| 4 | Latin | cursus | The act of running; race; Course, way, passage,... |
| 5 | Latin | currō | to run |
| 6 | Proto-Indo-European | ḱer- | to grow, to make grow, to nourish; to plait,... |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | kr̥- | to turn, to bend |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | ker- | army |