Where does “lactose” come from?
Lactose comes from French lactose, from Latin lac meaning milk combined with the Latin suffix -osus, ultimately derived from Proto-Italic -owonssos.
lactose (English): The disaccharide sugar of milk and dairy...
Definitions
- The disaccharide sugar of milk and dairy...
Ancestry of “lactose”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | French | lactose | lactose |
| 2 | French | -ose | -osis, a functional disease or condition; -ose, a... |
| 3 | Ancient Greek | -ωσις | abnormal condition or state; state, abnormal... |
| 4 | Ancient Greek | -σῐς | "suffix forming nouns" |
| 5 | Ancient Greek | -τις | retained after dentals |
| 6 | Proto-Indo-European | -tis | Derives abstract/action nouns from verb roots |