Where does “desertification” come from?
Desertification derives from English desert, which comes from French déserter, Old French desert, Latin desertus meaning "abandoned," from Latin deservire meaning "to abandon," composed of the prefix de- and Latin servire meaning "to serve."
desertification (English): Process by which a geographic region becomes a...
Definitions
- Process by which a geographic region becomes a...
Ancestry of “desertification”, step by step
desertification traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via English desert
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | desert | That which is deserved or merited; a just... |
| 2 | Middle English | desert | The situation of deserving something; That which... |
| 3 | Old French | desert | desert (desolate terrain) |
| 4 | Latin | dēsertum | a desert, wasteland |
| 5 | Latin | dēsertus | deserted, abandoned, forsaken; having been deserted, etc |
| 6 | Latin | dēserō | to leave, depart, desert, quit |
| 7 | Latin | dē- | of; from |
| 8 | Latin | dē | of; concerning; about |
| 9 | Latin | post | behind; after, since, besides, except; behind,... |
| 10 | Latin | poste | ablative singular of postis |
| 11 | Proto-Italic | posti | behind, after |
| 12 | Proto-Indo-European | pósti | after |
| 13 | Proto-Indo-European | pós | afterwards, post; by, at |
via French désertifier
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | French | désertifier | to desertify |
| 2 | French | -ifier | -ify |
| 3 | Latin | -ficō | forms factitive, causative, or other verbs from the roots of nouns and adjectives; -ify |
| 4 | Latin | -ficus | Forms adjectives that denote bringing or making |
| 5 | Proto-Italic | -fakos | -making, -producing |