Where does “litotes” come from?
litotes (English) comes from Latin litotes, from Ancient Greek λιτότης, from Ancient Greek -τής, from Ancient Greek πεῖρα, from Proto-Indo-European per-, from Proto-Indo-European pr̥tós — passed , crossed.
litotes (English): An ironic figure of speech whereby something is...
Definitions
- An ironic figure of speech whereby something is...
Ancestry of “litotes”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Latin | litotes | litotes |
| 2 | Ancient Greek | λιτότης | plainness, simplicity; litotes, understatement |
| 3 | Ancient Greek | -τής | Appended to verbs to form agent nouns |
| 4 | Ancient Greek | πεῖρα | trial, experiment, attempt |
| 5 | Proto-Indo-European | per- | before, in front; first; to go through |
| 6 | Proto-Indo-European | pr̥tós | passed , crossed |