Where does “devoir” come from?
Devoir comes from Middle English devoir, from Old French deveir, from Latin debere meaning "to owe," ultimately derived from Latin habere meaning "to have."
devoir (English): Duty, business; something that one must do
Definitions
- Duty, business; something that one must do
Ancestry of “devoir”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Middle English | devoir | devoir |
| 2 | French | devoir | duty; exercise, assignment; must, to have to,... |
| 3 | Italian | dovere | to owe; to have to do something; duty |
| 4 | Spanish | deber | obligation, duty; debt; should, ought |
| 5 | Old Spanish | dever | — |
| 6 | Latin | dēbeō | to owe something, to be under obligation to and for something |
| 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 |