Where does “fester” come from?

Fester comes from Old French festre, from Latin fistula, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European bʰī-, meaning to split or divide.

fester (English): A fistula; A sore or an ulcer of the skin; The...

Definitions

  1. A fistula; A sore or an ulcer of the skin; The...

Ancestry of “fester”, step by step

fester traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.

via Old French festre

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Old Frenchfestre—
2Latinfistulapipe, tube, especially a water pipe; hollow reed...
3Proto-Indo-Europeanbʰeyd-to split
4Proto-Indo-Europeanbʰey-bee

via German fester

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Germanfester

Words derived from “fester”

Every word from Proto-Indo-European bʰey- →Every word from Proto-Indo-European bʰeyd- →Every word from Latin fistula →