Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “intermittently” come from?

Intermittently comes from Middle French intermittent, from Latin intermittens, combining inter- and mittere meaning to send, ultimately tracing to Proto-Indo-European roots.

intermittently (English): Stopping or starting at intervals

Definitions

  1. Stopping or starting at intervals

Ancestry of “intermittently”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1EnglishintermittentStopping and starting, occuring, or presenting at...
2Middle Frenchintermittent—
3Latinintermittensinterrupting
4LatinintermittoI interrupt; I stop; I omit
5Latininterbetween, among; during, while
6Proto-Indo-Europeanh₁entérbetween
7Proto-Indo-Europeanh₁enin; in, inside
Every word from Proto-Indo-European h₁en →