Where does “mucous” come from?
Mucous comes from Late Latin mucosus, formed from Latin mucus with the suffix -osus, ultimately deriving from Proto-Indo-European mew- meaning slime or nasal mucus.
mucous (English): Pertaining to mucus; Having the qualities of...
Definitions
- Pertaining to mucus; Having the qualities of...
Ancestry of “mucous”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | Latin | mūcōsus | — |
| 2 | Latin | mūcus | — |
| 3 | Proto-Italic | moukos | — |
| 4 | Proto-Indo-European | mew-k- | slimy, slippery; slip, slime |
Words derived from “mucous”