Where does “critter” come from?
Critter is an informal English variant of creature, derived through Middle English creature and Old French creator from Latin creator, the agent noun from creatus, meaning "made" or "created," ultimately from the Proto-Indo-European root ḱer-.
critter (English): A creature, an animal
Definitions
- A creature, an animal
Ancestry of “critter”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | creature | A living being; an animal; A human; A created... |
| 2 | English | create | To bring into existence |
| 3 | Middle English | createn | To make, invent, or create; To grant or bestow a... |
| 4 | Latin | creātus | created, having been created, made, having been made, produced, having been produced |
| 5 | Latin | creō | to create, to give existence to, to form, to make, to produce, to originate out of other materials or out of nihility (transitively) |
| 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 |