Where does “industrial espionage” come from?
industrial espionage (English) comes from English industrial, from French industriel, from French -iel, from French -el, from Old French -el, from Latin -ellus, from Latin -ulus, from Proto-Italic -olos — Forms agent nouns from verbal roots.
industrial espionage (English): The use of clandestine methods to acquire secret...
Definitions
- The use of clandestine methods to acquire secret...
Ancestry of “industrial espionage”, step by step
industrial espionage traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via English industrial
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | industrial | Of or relating to industry, notably... |
| 2 | French | industriel | industrial; industrialist; industry |
| 3 | French | -iel | Suffix used to form adjectives. Compare with... |
| 4 | French | -el | To make an adjectival form of a noun; -al |
| 5 | Old French | -el | Suffix that usually denotes a masculine noun |
| 6 | Latin | -ellus | Alternative form of -ulus; "forming masculine... |
| 7 | Latin | -ulus | Used to form a diminutive of a noun, indicating... |
| 8 | Proto-Italic | -olos | — |
| 9 | Proto-Italic | -elos | Forms desubstantival and deadjectival diminutive nouns |
| 10 | Proto-Indo-European | -e-lós | — |
| 11 | Proto-Indo-European | -lós | Forms agent nouns from verbal roots |
via English espionage
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | espionage | The act or process of learning secret information... |
| 2 | French | espionnage | espionage; spying |
| 3 | French | espionner | to spy |
| 4 | French | espion | spy |
| 5 | Middle French | espion | — |
| 6 | Old French | espion | spy |
| 7 | Frankish | *spehō | — |
| 8 | Frankish | spehōn | to spy, watch; to peer, to look, to spy |
| 9 | Proto-Germanic | spehōną | to peer, look, spy |
| 10 | Proto-Indo-European | speḱ- | to see, to look, to observe |