Where does “credulous” come from?
Credulous derives from Latin credulus, formed with the diminutive suffix -ulus from Proto-Italic krezdō, rooted in the Proto-Indo-European verb ḱred dʰeh₁- meaning to place trust.
credulous (English): Excessively ready to believe things; gullible;...
Definitions
- Excessively ready to believe things; gullible;...
Ancestry of “credulous”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Latin | crēdulus | that easily believes a thing, easy of belief |
| 2 | Latin | -ulus | Used to form a diminutive of a noun, indicating... |
| 3 | Proto-Italic | -olos | — |
| 4 | Proto-Italic | -elos | Forms desubstantival and deadjectival diminutive nouns |
| 5 | Proto-Indo-European | -e-lós | — |
| 6 | Proto-Indo-European | -lós | Forms agent nouns from verbal roots |