Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “discourage” come from?

Discourage comes from Middle French descourager, formed with the prefix des- and verb root -er, ultimately deriving from Latin -are and -arius, tracing back to Proto-Indo-European dwóh₁.

discourage (English): To extinguish the courage of; to dishearten; to...

Definitions

  1. To extinguish the courage of; to dishearten; to...

Ancestry of “discourage”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Middle Frenchdescouragerto discourage; to becomes discouraged
2Middle Frenchdés-—
3Latindē-—
4Latindē—
5Latinpostbehind; after, since, besides, except; behind,...
6Latinposteablative singular of postis
7Proto-Italicposti—
8Proto-Indo-Europeanpósti—
9Proto-Indo-Europeanpósafterwards, post; by, at

Words derived from “discourage”

  • discouraging
  • discouragement
  • discouragingly
  • discourager
  • discourageth
  • discouragest
  • discourageable
  • undiscouraging
Every word from Proto-Indo-European pós →