Where does “doctor” come from?
Doctor comes from Middle English doctour, from Anglo-Norman doctour, from Latin doctor, an agent noun formed with the suffix -tor from Latin docēre meaning to teach, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European deḱ- meaning to receive or accept.
doctor (English): A physician; a member of the medical profession;...
Definitions
- A physician; a member of the medical profession;...
Ancestry of “doctor”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Middle English | doctour | doctor |
| 2 | Anglo-Norman | doctour | Alternative spelling of doctur |
| 3 | Latin | doctor | teacher, instructor; catechist |
| 4 | Latin | -tor | -er |
| 5 | Proto-Italic | -tōr | Forms agent nouns to verb stems |
| 6 | Proto-Indo-European | -tōr | Derives agent nouns from verbs, denoting someone... |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | -tor-s | — |