Where does “dernier” come from?
Dernier comes from French dernier, from Old French derrain, from Vulgar Latin deretranus, composed of Latin de and re- with Proto-Italic wre, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European wert-.
dernier (English): Final, last
Ancestry of “dernier”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | French | dernier | last; latest; latter |
| 2 | French | derrenier | — |
| 3 | Old French | derrain | final, last; last |
| 4 | Vulgar Latin | deretranus | to hinder |
| 5 | Latin | dē | — |
| 6 | Latin | post | behind; after, since, besides, except; behind,... |
| 7 | Latin | poste | ablative singular of postis |
| 8 | Proto-Italic | posti | — |
| 9 | Proto-Indo-European | pósti | — |
| 10 | Proto-Indo-European | pós | afterwards, post; by, at |