Where does “insidious” come from?
Insidious comes from Middle French insidieux, from Latin insidiosus, formed with the suffix -osus from Proto-Italic ensedjās combined with the suffix -owonssos.
insidious (English): Producing harm in a stealthy, often gradual,...
Definitions
- Producing harm in a stealthy, often gradual,...
Ancestry of “insidious”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Middle French | insidieux | — |
| 2 | Latin | īnsidiōsus | cunning, deceitful, insidious |
| 3 | Latin | īnsidiae | ambush |
| 4 | Latin | īnsideō | to sit down, in or upon; to be seated or rest in or upon |
| 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 |