Where does “duress” come from?
Duress comes from Old French duresse, from Latin duritia meaning hardness, from the adjective durus hard, with the Latin suffix -ia and Ancient Greek -ία, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European -h₂.
duress (English): Harsh treatment; Constraint by threat; Restraint...
Definitions
- Harsh treatment; Constraint by threat; Restraint...
Ancestry of “duress”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Old French | duresse | Alternative form of durece |
| 2 | Latin | duritia | hardness, rigidity; harsh, having a harsh flavor;... |
| 3 | Latin | -itia | -ness, -ity |
| 4 | Latin | -ia | Used to form a feminine abstract noun, usually... |
| 5 | Latin | -ius | forming adjectives from nouns; nominative neuter... |
| 6 | Proto-Italic | -jōs | Forms comparative adjectives |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | -yós | Creates adjectives from noun or verb stems |