Where does “destitute” come from?
Destitute comes from Middle English destituten, from Latin destitutus, the past participle of destituo, meaning to abandon or forsake, derived from de and statuo, to set or place.
destitute (English): Lacking something; devoid; lacking money; poor,...
Definitions
- Lacking something; devoid; lacking money; poor,...
Ancestry of “destitute”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Middle English | destitute | — |
| 2 | Latin | destitutus | destitute; disappointed; childless |
| 3 | Latin | dēstituō | to fix or set in position; to place |
| 4 | Latin | dē- | of; from |
| 5 | Latin | dē | of; concerning; about |
| 6 | Latin | post | behind; after, since, besides, except; behind,... |
| 7 | Latin | poste | ablative singular of postis |
| 8 | Proto-Italic | posti | behind, after |
| 9 | Proto-Indo-European | pósti | after |
| 10 | Proto-Indo-European | pós | afterwards, post; by, at |