Where does “finesse” come from?

Finesse comes from Middle English fīnesse, from Middle French finesse, from Old French fin meaning "end" or "final," from Latin finis meaning "boundary" or "end," from Proto-Indo-European dʰeygʷ-.

finesse (English): Skill in the handling or manipulation of a...

Definitions

  1. Skill in the handling or manipulation of a...

Ancestry of “finesse”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Middle Englishfīnessedegree of excellence; fineness, purity
2Old Frenchfinessefineness; delicacy; slenderness
3Old Frenchfine—
4Latinfīnisend
5Proto-Indo-Europeandʰnh₂-—

Words derived from “finesse”

Every word from Proto-Indo-European dʰnh₂- →Every word from Latin fīnis →Every word from Old French fine →