Where does “courteous” come from?
Courteous comes from Old French curteis, derived from Old French cort and Latin cohors, with the prefix Latin co-.
courteous (English): Showing regard or thought for others; especially,...
Definitions
- Showing regard or thought for others; especially,...
Ancestry of “courteous”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Middle English | curteis | noble; courtly |
| 2 | Old French | curteis | Alternative form of cortois |
| 3 | Old French | cort | court |
| 4 | Latin | cōrs | — |
| 5 | Latin | cohors | a court; a farmyard or enclosure; a retinue or... |
| 6 | Latin | co- | allomorph of con- |
| 7 | Latin | cōn- | Used in compounds to indicate a being or bringing together of several objects |
| 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,... |