Where does “industry” come from?
Industry comes from Middle English industrie, from Old French industrie, from Latin industria, meaning diligence or earnestness, derived from the adjective industrius.
industry (English): The tendency to work persistently. Diligence;...
Definitions
- The tendency to work persistently. Diligence;...
Ancestry of “industry”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Middle English | industry | — |
| 2 | Old French | industrie | — |
| 3 | Latin | industria | diligence, assiduousness; industry, activity;... |
| 4 | Latin | industrius | active, industrious, assiduous, diligent |
| 5 | Latin | struō | to place one thing on top of another, to pile up, join together |
| 6 | Proto-Italic | strowō | pile up; construct, build |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | strew- | to spread, to strew |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | sterh₃- | to spread, extend, stretch out |
| 9 | Proto-Indo-European | ster- | sterile, infertile |