Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “formic” come from?

Formic derives from Latin formica, which comes from Proto-Indo-European morwi-, both terms referring to the ant.

formic (English): Of or pertaining to ants; Of, pertaining to or...

Definitions

  1. Of or pertaining to ants; Of, pertaining to or...

Ancestry of “formic”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Frenchformiqueformic
2French-iqueUsed to form adjectives from nouns: -ic, -ical,...
3Middle French-ique—
4Old French-ique-ic
5Latin-icusbelonging to; derived from; of or pertaining to;...
6Proto-Italic*-ikos—

Words derived from “formic”

  • formate
  • chloroformic
  • formamidine
  • orthoformate
Every word from Proto-Italic *-ikos →