Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “insectivorous” come from?

Insectivorous comes from Latin -vorus (devouring) and Latin in- (not), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European ne (not).

insectivorous (English): Feeding on insects; Capable of trapping and...

Definitions

  1. Feeding on insects; Capable of trapping and...

Ancestry of “insectivorous”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Latin-vorus-eating, -devouring
2Latin-ussuffix forming adjectives from nouns, verbs,...
3Old Latin-osaccusative masculine plural of -us
4Proto-Italic-os—
5Proto-Indo-European-ósCreates agent nouns from verb stems, denoting...
Every word from Proto-Indo-European -ós →