Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “masseuse” come from?

Masseuse comes from French masseuse, feminine of French masseur, from French masser, derived from Latin massa meaning lump or mass, with the agent suffix Latin -or.

masseuse (English): A woman who performs massage; a female masseur; A...

Definitions

  1. A woman who performs massage; a female masseur; A...

Ancestry of “masseuse”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Frenchmasseusefemale equivalent of masseur
2Frenchmasseurmasseur
3French-eurUsed to form agent nouns from verbs; API f; -ness
4Middle French-eurUsed to form agent nouns from verbs
5Old French-eorAlternative form of -or
6Latin-ator-ator, -er; second-person singular future passive...
7Latin-tor-er
8Proto-Italic-tōr—
9Proto-Indo-European-tōrDerives agent nouns from verbs, denoting someone...
10Proto-Indo-European-tor-s—
Every word from Proto-Indo-European -tor-s →