Where does “expeditious” come from?
Expeditious comes from Middle English -ous added to Latin expedio, meaning to free the feet, from ex- and the Proto-Indo-European root ped- meaning foot.
expeditious (English): Fast, prompt, speedy; Completed or done with...
Definitions
- Fast, prompt, speedy; Completed or done with...
Ancestry of “expeditious”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | expedite | To accelerate the progress of; To perform fast... |
| 2 | Latin | expedītus | unhindered, unhampered, unimpeded, unencumbered, liberated |
| 3 | Latin | expedio | I free feet from snares; unfasten fetters; lose... |
| 4 | Latin | pēs | a foot, in its senses as |
| 5 | Ancient Greek | μέτρον | something used to measure: measure, rule, weight;... |
| 6 | Ancient Greek | -τρον | Forms instrument nouns |
| 7 | Proto-Hellenic | -tron | Forms instrument nouns from verb stems |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | -trom | Forms nouns denoting a tool or instrument |
| 9 | Proto-Indo-European | -tḗr | Derives agent nouns from verbs, denoting someone... |