Where does “lowlifer” come from?
lowlifer (English) comes from English lowlife, from English low, from English allow, from Middle English allowen, from Old French alouer, from Latin allocō, from Latin ad-, from Latin īn- — in.
Ancestry of “lowlifer”, step by step
lowlifer traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via English lowlife
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | lowlife | An untrustworthy, despicable, or disreputable... |
| 2 | English | low | Situated close to, or even below, the ground or... |
| 3 | English | allow | To grant, give, admit, accord, afford, or yield;... |
| 4 | Middle English | allowen | — |
| 5 | Old French | alouer | Alternative form of aloer |
| 6 | Latin | allocō | to hire |
| 7 | Latin | ad- | to; usually prefixed to verbs, in which cases it... |
| 8 | Latin | īn- | un-, non-, not |
| 9 | Latin | în | in, at, on, upon, from (space) |
| 10 | Latin | en | lookǃ beholdǃ; reallyǃ?; come onǃ |
| 11 | Proto-Italic | en | in |
| 12 | 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 |