Where does “governorship” come from?
Governorship derives from Middle English -schipe and Old English -scipe, suffix forms built on Latin gubernator, from Latin gubernāre meaning "to steer or direct," ultimately from Ancient Greek κυβερνάω with the same sense.
governorship (English): The office, or the term of a governor
Definitions
- The office, or the term of a governor
Ancestry of “governorship”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | governor | The chief executive officer of a first-level... |
| 2 | Middle English | govenour | — |
| 3 | Old French | gouvreneur | governor; steersman |
| 4 | Latin | gubernātor | Helmsman or pilot of a boat |
| 5 | Ancient Greek | κυβερνήτης | captain, steersman, pilot, navigator; guide,... |
| 6 | Ancient Greek | -τής | Appended to verbs to form agent nouns |
| 7 | Ancient Greek | πεῖρα | trial, experiment, attempt |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | per- | before, in front; first; to go through |
| 9 | Proto-Indo-European | pr̥tós | passed , crossed |