Where does “innocuous” come from?
Innocuous comes from Latin innocuus, formed from the prefix in- meaning "not" and nocuus meaning "harmful," ultimately from Proto-Indo-European neḱ- meaning "to kill or harm."
innocuous (English): Harmless; producing no ill effect; Inoffensive;...
Definitions
- Harmless; producing no ill effect; Inoffensive;...
Ancestry of “innocuous”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | Latin | innocuus | harmless |
| 2 | Latin | nocuus | harmful, noxious, pernicious |
| 3 | Latin | noceō | — |
| 4 | Proto-Italic | nokeō | harm, hurt, injure; kill, slay violently |
| 5 | Proto-Indo-European | noḱéye- | — |
| 6 | Proto-Indo-European | neḱ- | to perish, disappear |
Words derived from “innocuous”