Where does “mainstreamist” come from?

mainstreamist (English) comes from English mainstream, from English stream, from Middle English streem, from Middle English strem, from Old English strēam, from Proto-West Germanic straum, from Proto-Germanic straumaz, from Proto-Indo-European srowmos — to flow; to guard; to bind, to tie together.

mainstreamist (English): Someone in the mainstream

Definitions

  1. Someone in the mainstream

Ancestry of “mainstreamist”, step by step

mainstreamist traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.

via English mainstream

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1EnglishmainstreamUsed or accepted broadly rather than by small...
2EnglishstreamA small river; a large creek; a body of moving...
3Middle EnglishstreemAlternative form of strem
4Middle EnglishstremA waterbody; a region of the world containing...
5Old Englishstrēamcurrent; stream
6Proto-West Germanicstraumstream
7Proto-Germanicstraumazstream, current, river
8Proto-Indo-Europeansrowmosriver
9Proto-Indo-Europeansrew-to flow, stream
10Proto-Indo-Europeanser-to flow; to guard; to bind, to tie together

via English ist

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1EnglishistA practitioner or supporter of an ism
2English-istAdded to words to form nouns denoting
3Old French-iste
4Latin-ista-ist; one who practises or believes
5Ancient Greek-ιστήςAlternative form of -τής; -ist
6Ancient Greek-τήςAppended to verbs to form agent nouns
7Proto-Hellenic-tās
Every word from Proto-Indo-European ser-Every word from Proto-Indo-European srew-Every word from Proto-Indo-European srowmos