Where does “expedient” come from?
Expedient comes from Middle English expedient, from Old French expedient, from Latin expediens, the present participle of expedio meaning "to free the feet," from ex- "out" and pṓds "foot" in Proto-Indo-European.
expedient (English): Suitable to effect some desired end or the...
Definitions
- Suitable to effect some desired end or the...
Ancestry of “expedient”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Middle English | expedient | — |
| 2 | Old French | expedient | — |
| 3 | Latin | expediens | expediting |
| 4 | Latin | expedio | I free feet from snares; unfasten fetters; lose... |
| 5 | Latin | pēs | a foot, in its senses as |
| 6 | Ancient Greek | μέτρον | something used to measure: measure, rule, weight;... |
| 7 | Ancient Greek | -τρον | Forms instrument nouns |
| 8 | Proto-Hellenic | -tron | Forms instrument nouns from verb stems |
| 9 | Proto-Indo-European | -trom | Forms nouns denoting a tool or instrument |
| 10 | Proto-Indo-European | -tḗr | Derives agent nouns from verbs, denoting someone... |