Where does “influenza” come from?
Influenza comes from Italian influenza, from Latin influentia meaning "outflow or flowing in," from the Latin suffix -ia, from Ancient Greek -ία, from Proto-Indo-European -h₂.
influenza (English): An acute contagious disease of the upper airways...
Definitions
- An acute contagious disease of the upper airways...
Ancestry of “influenza”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Italian | influenza | influence; influenza, flu; third-person singular... |
| 2 | Latin | īnfluentia | influence |
| 3 | Latin | īnfluēns | flowing into |
| 4 | Latin | īnfluō | to flow or run into |
| 5 | Latin | īn- | un-, non-, not |
| 6 | Latin | în | in, at, on, upon, from (space) |
| 7 | Latin | en | lookǃ beholdǃ; reallyǃ?; come onǃ |
| 8 | Proto-Italic | en | in |
| 9 | Proto-Indo-European | h₁én | in |