Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “maltreat” come from?

maltreat (English) comes from French maltraiter, from French traiter, from Middle French traicter, from Old French traiter, from Latin tractāre, from Latin tractō, from Latin -tō, from Latin -tus — Derives action nouns from verb roots.

maltreat (English): To treat badly, to abuse

Definitions

  1. To treat badly, to abuse

Ancestry of “maltreat”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Frenchmaltraiterto mistreat
2Frenchtraiterto treat; to take care; to process, spray, coat
3Middle Frenchtraicterto treat
4Old Frenchtraiter—
5Latintractāre—
6Latintractō—
7Latin-tō—
8Latin-tusForms the past participle of verbs; Forms...
9Proto-Italic-tus—
10Proto-Indo-European-tusDerives action nouns from verb roots

Words derived from “maltreat”

  • maltreater
  • maltreateth
  • maltreatest
Every word from Proto-Indo-European -tus →