Where does “hunter” come from?
Hunter derives from Middle English hunter, formed with the Middle English agent suffix -er from Old French -er, Latin -are, and the Latin agentive suffix -arius, ultimately from Proto-Italic -os.
hunter (English): One who hunts game for sport or for food; a...
Definitions
- One who hunts game for sport or for food; a...
Ancestry of “hunter”, step by step
hunter traces back through 3 separate lines of ancestry.
via Middle English hunter
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Middle English | hunter | hunter |
| 2 | Middle English | -er | agentive suffix; agent noun suffix |
| 3 | Old French | -er | Alternative form of -ier, verbal suffix;... |
| 4 | Latin | -āre | first conjugation |
| 5 | Proto-Italic | -āō | Forms primarily denominative verbs |
| 6 | Proto-Indo-European | -eh₂yéti | Creates iterative/ frequentative/ intensive... |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | -yéti | Creates intransitive, often deponent,... |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | yé- | — |
| 9 | Chichewa | iye | he, she |
via Middle English huntere
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Middle English | huntere | A hunter; a (male) person who hunts animals |
| 2 | Middle English | -ere | er |
| 3 | Old English | -ere | masculine agent suffix, originally applied only... |
| 4 | Proto-West Germanic | -ārī | -er |
| 5 | Proto-Germanic | -ārijaz | -er |
| 6 | Latin | -ārius | er |
| 7 | Proto-Italic | *-āzios | Forms relational adjectives to nouns (and rarely numerals) |
via Middle English honter
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Middle English | honter | — |