Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “detergent” come from?

Detergent comes from French détergent, from Latin detergens, the present participle of detergeo, composed of the prefix de and a root from Proto-Indo-European terh₁-.

detergent (English): Any non-soap cleaning agent, especially a...

Definitions

  1. Any non-soap cleaning agent, especially a...

Ancestry of “detergent”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Frenchdétergentdetergent
2Middle Frenchdetergent—
3Latindētergēns—
4Latindētergeō—
5Latintergeō—

Words derived from “detergent”

  • nondetergent
  • detergentless
Every word from Latin tergeō →