Where does “impersonator” come from?
Impersonator derives from English impersonate, built on English person from Latin persōna, with the prefix in- from Latin in and Latin -ātus, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European roots ne and oyd-.
impersonator (English): One who fraudulently impersonates another person;...
Definitions
- One who fraudulently impersonates another person;...
Ancestry of “impersonator”, step by step
impersonator traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via English impersonate
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | impersonate | To pretend to be (a different person); to assume the identity of, especially when there is an intent to deceive |
| 2 | English | Person | An individual who has been granted personhood; usually a human being |
| 3 | Middle English | persoun | person |
| 4 | Old French | persone | person; individual; rector of a parish; someone;... |
| 5 | Medieval Latin | persona | parson, person; mask; character |
| 6 | Latin | persōna | mask |
| 7 | Etruscan | 𐌘𐌄𐌓𐌔𐌖 | a mask; a masked individual, often performing in... |
| 8 | Ancient Greek | πρόσωπον | face, visage, countenance; front; mask |
| 9 | Ancient Greek | ὤψ | to the eye; in the face; eye |
| 10 | Proto-Hellenic | ókʷs | eye |
| 11 | Proto-Indo-European | h₃ókʷs | eye |
| 12 | Proto-Indo-European | h₃ekʷ- | to see; eye |
via English ‐or
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | ‐or | Creates an agent noun, often from a verb, indicating a person or object (often machines or parts of them) that do the verb or part of speech with which they are formed |
| 2 | Middle English | -our | — |
| 3 | Old French | -eor | Alternative form of -or |
| 4 | Latin | -ator | -ator, -er; second-person singular future passive... |
| 5 | Latin | -tor | -er |
| 6 | Proto-Italic | -tōr | Forms agent nouns to verb stems |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | -tōr | Derives agent nouns from verbs, denoting someone... |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | -tor-s | — |