Where does “felony” come from?
Felony comes from Middle English felonie, from Old French felonie, combining Old French fel- (fierce, cruel) with the suffix -ie from Latin -ia, Greek -ία, and Proto-Indo-European -h₂, ultimately deriving from Proto-Germanic faluz and Proto-Indo-European pol-.
felony (English): A serious criminal offense, which, under United...
Definitions
- A serious criminal offense, which, under United...
Ancestry of “felony”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Middle English | felony | — |
| 2 | Old French | felonie | evil; immoral acts or deeds |
| 3 | Old French | felon | evildoer; wrongdoer; immoral person; bastard;... |
| 4 | Medieval Latin | fello | I suck; I fellate, perform fellatio, suck off;... |
| 5 | Frankish | fellō | evildoer; wicked person |
| 6 | Proto-Germanic | fillô | — |
| 7 | Proto-Germanic | faluz | terrible; cruel; bad |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | pol- | to pour, flow, float, fly, swim, flee; to pour,... |