Where does “multifactor” come from?
Multifactor combines English multi from Latin multus meaning many with English factor from Latin facio meaning to do or make, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European dʰeh₁-.
multifactor (English): Of or pertaining to more than one factor
Definitions
- Of or pertaining to more than one factor
Ancestry of “multifactor”, step by step
multifactor traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via English factor
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | factor | A doer, maker; a person who does things for... |
| 2 | Middle French | facteur | — |
| 3 | Latin | factor | One who or which does or makes something; doer,... |
| 4 | Latin | faciō | to do |
| 5 | Latin | -torium | nominative neuter singular of -tōrius; accusative... |
| 6 | Latin | -tōrius | ory |
| 7 | Latin | -tor | -er |
| 8 | Proto-Italic | -tōr | Forms agent nouns to verb stems |
| 9 | Proto-Indo-European | -tōr | Derives agent nouns from verbs, denoting someone... |
| 10 | Proto-Indo-European | -tor-s | — |
via English multi
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | multi | A multituberculate; Neolamprologus multifasciatus |
| 2 | English | multituberculate | Having molars with multiple rows of cusps; Any of... |
| 3 | English | tuberculate | Having tubercles; Tubercular |
| 4 | Latin | tuberculatus | warty, tuberculate |
| 5 | Latin | tūberculum | a small swelling, bump, or protuberance; a boil, pimple, tubercle |
| 6 | Latin | tūber | a hump, bump, swelling, protuberance; excrescence |
| 7 | Proto-Italic | tūβos | — |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | tewh₂- | to swell; to crowd; to be strong |