Where does “infirmary” come from?
Infirmary comes from Latin infirmaria, derived from Latin infirmus (weak, feeble) plus the suffix -arius, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European roots meaning not and to hold.
infirmary (English): A place where sick or injured people are cared...
Definitions
- A place where sick or injured people are cared...
Ancestry of “infirmary”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | Medieval Latin | infirmaria | — |
| 2 | Latin | īnfirmus | — |
| 3 | Latin | īn- | — |
| 4 | Latin | în | — |
| 5 | Latin | en | lookǃ beholdǃ; reallyǃ?; come onǃ |
| 6 | Proto-Italic | en | in |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | h₁én | in |