Where does “lower” come from?
Lower comes from English low combined with the Old French comparative suffix -er, which derives from Latin -āre and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European klek- meaning to bend or recline.
lower (English): comparative form of low: more low; bottom; more...
Definitions
- comparative form of low: more low; bottom; more...
Ancestry of “lower”, step by step
lower traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via English low
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | low | Situated close to, or even below, the ground or... |
| 2 | English | allow | To grant, give, admit, accord, afford, or yield;... |
| 3 | Middle English | allowen | — |
| 4 | Old French | alouer | Alternative form of aloer |
| 5 | Latin | allocō | to hire |
| 6 | Latin | ad- | to; usually prefixed to verbs, in which cases it... |
| 7 | Latin | īn- | un-, non-, not |
| 8 | Latin | în | in, at, on, upon, from (space) |
| 9 | Latin | en | lookǃ beholdǃ; reallyǃ?; come onǃ |
| 10 | Proto-Italic | en | in |
| 11 | Proto-Indo-European | h₁én | in |
via English ER
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | ER | The statistic "Earned Run"; Initialism of... |
| 2 | Turkish | er | early; brave; man, male |
| 3 | Ottoman Turkish | ایر | saddle, a seat for a rider placed on the back of a horse or other animal |
| 4 | Old Anatolian Turkish | ایر | early, at a time in advance of the usual or expected event |
| 5 | Proto-Turkic | ēder | saddle |