Where does “imperialism” come from?

Imperialism comes from English imperial plus the suffix -ism, from Ancient Greek -ισμός and -μός, ultimately from Latin imperare meaning "to command," with in- as a prefix.

imperialism (English): The policy of forcefully extending a nation's...

Definitions

  1. The policy of forcefully extending a nation's...

Ancestry of “imperialism”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1EnglishimperialRelated to an empire, emperor, or empress;...
2Middle EnglishimperialImperial; related to or being of an empire or its...
3Old Frenchimperial—
4Latinimperiālisof the empire or emperor, imperial
5LatinimperiumThe empire, state, imperial government, realm,...
6Latinimperāre—
7Latinparāre—
8Latinparōto arrange, order, contrive, design
9Latinpectuschest, breast; heart, breast, as the seat of...
10Proto-Italicpektos—
11Proto-Indo-Europeanpeg-breast
12Englishpolyethylene glycolAny of a series of water-soluble polymers, of...

Words derived from “imperialism”

Every word from English polyethylene glycol →Every word from Proto-Indo-European peg- →Every word from Proto-Italic pektos →