Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “hesitating” come from?

Hesitating comes from Latin haesitatus, the past participle of haesitare, derived from haerere meaning to stick or hold fast, with the frequentative suffix -itō.

hesitating (English): present participle of hesitate; hesitation

Definitions

  1. present participle of hesitate; hesitation

Ancestry of “hesitating”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1EnglishhesitateTo stop or pause respecting decision or action;...
2Latinhaesitatushesitated, having been uncertain; having been...
3Latinhaesitō—
4Latin-titoForms frequentative verbs from existing verbs
5Latin-itoForms frequentative verbs from existing verbs or...
6Latin-tō—
7Latin-tusForms the past participle of verbs; Forms...
8Proto-Italic-tus—
9Proto-Indo-European-tusDerives action nouns from verb roots

Words derived from “hesitating”

  • unhesitatingly
  • hesitatingly
  • unhesitating
  • unhesitatingness
Every word from Proto-Indo-European -tus →