Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “inactive” come from?

Inactive comes from French inactif, from Latin inactivus, from Latin activus meaning "doing or acting," derived from agere meaning "to do or act," ultimately from Proto-Indo-European h₂eǵ- meaning "to drive or move."

inactive (English): Not active, temporarily or permanently; Not...

Definitions

  1. Not active, temporarily or permanently; Not...

Ancestry of “inactive”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Frenchinactifinactive
2Latininactivusinactive
3Latināctīvus—
4Ancient GreekἐνεργητικόςAble to act on; acting on; Active; In the active...
5Ancient Greekἐνεργέωto be in action or activity, to operate; to...
6Ancient Greekἐνεργόςat work, active
7Ancient Greekἐν-in, within; on
8Ancient Greekἐνin, on, at; among; in, at, or during the time of
9Ancient Greekδέρμαskin, hide
10Ancient Greekγλυφήcarving, carved work; hole cut
11Ancient Greek-ῐ́ᾱ{{l|en|-ia}}; "suffix forming abstract feminine...
12Proto-Indo-European-íh₂—
13Proto-Indo-European-h₂Creates collective nouns, which refer to groups...

Words derived from “inactive”

  • inactivate
  • inactively
  • inactivator
  • inactiveness
  • bioinactive
  • photoinactivate
  • photoinactive
  • inactose
Every word from Proto-Indo-European -h₂ →