Where does “deteriorate” come from?
Deteriorate comes from Late Latin deterioratus, past participle of deterioro, derived from Latin deterior meaning worse, formed from the prefix de- and a Proto-Indo-European root de-.
deteriorate (English): To make worse; to make inferior in quality or...
Definitions
- To make worse; to make inferior in quality or...
Ancestry of “deteriorate”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Latin | dēteriorātus | — |
| 2 | Latin | dēteriorō | to worsen, deteriorate |
| 3 | Latin | deterior | worse |
| 4 | Latin | dēter | — |
| 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 |