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

  1. A medical doctor who specializes in dentistry

Ancestry of “dentist”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Frenchdentistedentist
2Frenchdenttooth; cog
3Middle Frenchdenttooth
4Old Frenchdenttooth
5Latindēnsa tooth
6Italiandentetooth; cog, prong
7Latindenstooth; a spike, prong, or any tooth-like...
8Proto-Italicdentstooth
9Proto-Indo-Europeanh₃dóntstooth
10Proto-Indo-Europeanh₁ed-to eat

Words derived from “dentist”

Every word from Proto-Indo-European h₁ed- →