Where does “countess” come from?
Countess derives from Old French contesse, from Old French conte combined with Latin -issa, ultimately from Latin comes meaning companion or count, prefixed with Latin com-.
countess (English): The wife of a count or earl; A woman holding the...
Definitions
- The wife of a count or earl; A woman holding the...
Ancestry of “countess”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Old French | contesse | countess |
| 2 | Old French | conté | county |
| 3 | Latin | comitātus | having accompanied, guarded, served, attended |
| 4 | Latin | comitor | I join someone as an attendant; accompany,... |
| 5 | Latin | comes | a companion, comrade, partner; an attendant, a... |
| 6 | Latin | com- | allomorph of con- |
| 7 | Latin | con- | Used in compounds to indicate a being or bringing... |
| 8 | Latin | cum | with, along with; at; -fold |
| 9 | Old Latin | com | Alternative form of cum |
| 10 | Proto-Italic | kom | with, along, at |
| 11 | Proto-Indo-European | ḱóm | beside, near, by, with |
| 12 | Proto-Indo-European | ḱe | Deictic particle, here; Post-positional... |
| 13 | Middle English | kyt | — |
| 14 | German | kitt | putty certain kinds of cement used for fixing e.g. window panes |
| 15 | Old High German | kuti | — |
| 16 | Proto-West Germanic | kwidu | gum, resin |
| 17 | Proto-Germanic | kweduz | resin |
| 18 | Proto-Indo-European | gʷet- | resin, gum; to say, speak |
| 19 | Proto-Indo-European | gū- | to bend; curve; arch; vault; to bow, bend, arch,... |