Where does “devastating” come from?
Devastating derives from English devastate, from Latin devastatus (past participle of devasto, meaning to lay waste), formed from Latin de- (prefix meaning away) and a root ultimately traced to Proto-Indo-European h₁weh₂-.
devastating (English): causing devastation; present participle of...
Definitions
- causing devastation; present participle of...
Ancestry of “devastating”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | devastate | To ruin many or all things over a large area,... |
| 2 | Latin | dēvastātus | devastated |
| 3 | Latin | dēvastō | to lay waste, devastate |
| 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 |