Where does “geologist” come from?
Geologist comes from English geology combined with the Latin agentive suffix -ista, from Ancient Greek gē (earth) and -logia (study of), derived from logos (word, reasoning) and legō (to speak), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European leǵ-.
geologist (English): A person who is skilled at geology
Definitions
- A person who is skilled at geology
Ancestry of “geologist”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | English | -ist | Added to words to form nouns denoting |
| 2 | Old French | -iste | — |
| 3 | Latin | -ista | -ist; one who practises or believes |
| 4 | Ancient Greek | -ιστής | Alternative form of -τής; -ist |
| 5 | Ancient Greek | -τής | Appended to verbs to form agent nouns |
| 6 | Proto-Hellenic | -tās | — |
Words derived from “geologist”