Where does “dentist” come from?
Dentist is from French dentiste, formed with the French suffix -iste from Latin -ista and Ancient Greek -ιστής, combined with Latin dens meaning tooth, descended from Proto-Indo-European h₁ed-.
dentist (English): A medical doctor who specializes in dentistry
Definitions
- A medical doctor who specializes in dentistry
Ancestry of “dentist”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | French | dentiste | dentist |
| 2 | French | dent | tooth; cog |
| 3 | Middle French | dent | tooth |
| 4 | Old French | dent | tooth |
| 5 | Latin | dēns | — |
| 6 | Italian | dente | tooth; cog, prong |
| 7 | Latin | dens | tooth; a spike, prong, or any tooth-like... |
| 8 | Proto-Italic | dents | tooth |
| 9 | Proto-Indo-European | h₃dónts | tooth |
| 10 | Proto-Indo-European | h₁ed- | to eat |
Words derived from “dentist”