Where does “courageous” come from?
Courageous comes from Middle English corajous, from Old French corageus, derived from Old French corage meaning heart, from Latin cor heart with the suffix -osus, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European ḱḗr.
courageous (English): Of a person, displaying or possessing courage; Of...
Definitions
- Of a person, displaying or possessing courage; Of...
Ancestry of “courageous”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Middle English | corajous | — |
| 2 | Old French | corageus | brave; valiant |
| 3 | Old French | us | tradition or custom |
| 4 | Latin | ūsus | use, employment, exercise, advantage |
| 5 | Latin | ūtor | to use, make use of, employ |
| 6 | Proto-Slavic | *ǫtorъ | croze |
| 7 | Proto-Slavic | torъ | paddock, pen |
| 8 | Proto-Slavic | terti | to rub, to scrape; to polish |
| 9 | Proto-Indo-European | terh₁- | to rub, turn; to drill, pierce |