Where does “mockumentary” come from?

mockumentary (English) comes from English documentary, from French documentaire, from French document, from Italian documento, from Latin documentum, from Latin -mentum, from Latin -menta, from Proto-Indo-European -mn̥ — Creates action nouns or result nouns from verbs.

mockumentary (English): A film or television programme presented as if it...

Definitions

  1. A film or television programme presented as if it...

Ancestry of “mockumentary”, step by step

mockumentary traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.

via English documentary

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1EnglishdocumentaryOf, related to, or based on documents; Which...
2Frenchdocumentairedocumentary
3Frenchdocumentdocument; file
4Italiandocumentodocument; first-person singular present...
5Latindocumentumlesson; instruction; warning
6Latin-mentuminstrument, medium, or result of; e.g....
7Latin-mentanominative plural of -mentum; accusative plural...
8Proto-Indo-European-mn̥Creates action nouns or result nouns from verbs

via English mock

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1EnglishmockAn imitation, usually of lesser quality; Mockery,...
2Middle Englishmokken
3Old Frenchmocquer
4Middle Dutchmockento mumble
5Proto-Germanicmukkijaną
6Proto-Indo-Europeanmūg-
Every word from Proto-Indo-European -mn̥Every word from Latin -mentumEvery word from Latin documentum
mockumentary — Etymology, Origin & Word History | Etymology Explorer