Where does “ghostbuster” come from?
ghostbuster (English) comes from English Buster, from German Büste, from French buste, from Italian busto, from Latin bustum, from Latin urere, from Latin uro, from Proto-Italic ouzō — to burn.
ghostbuster (English): Someone who purports to rid a place of ghosts
Definitions
- Someone who purports to rid a place of ghosts
Ancestry of “ghostbuster”, step by step
ghostbuster traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via English Buster
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | Buster | who or something that bursts, breaks, or destroys a specified thing |
| 2 | German | Büste | bust; dummy |
| 3 | French | buste | bust, torso; bust |
| 4 | Italian | busto | tomb, grave; cadaver, corpse; bust |
| 5 | Latin | bustum | A burial mound, tomb; A place for burning funeral... |
| 6 | Latin | urere | second-person singular future passive indicative... |
| 7 | Latin | uro | I burn, consume, inflame; to rage, to ravage |
| 8 | Proto-Italic | ouzō | — |
| 9 | Proto-Indo-European | h₁ews- | to burn |
via English ghost
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | ghost | The spirit; the soul of man; The disembodied... |
| 2 | Middle English | gost | a spiritual being; angel, devil, spirit; soul of... |
| 3 | Old English | gāst | breath, soul, spirit, ghost, being |
| 4 | Proto-West Germanic | gaist | ghost, spirit |
| 5 | Proto-Germanic | gaistaz | terror, fear; spirit, ghost; mind |
| 6 | Proto-Indo-European | ǵʰeysd- | anger, agitation |