Where does “multifactorial” come from?
Multifactorial comes from English factorial, Latin multi, Latin multus, and Proto-Indo-European mel-, meaning to grind or crush, describing something composed of many constituent elements or factors.
multifactorial (English): Involving, or controlled by multiple factors;...
Definitions
- Involving, or controlled by multiple factors;...
Ancestry of “multifactorial”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | English | factorial | The result of multiplying a given number of... |
| 2 | English | factor | A doer, maker; a person who does things for... |
| 3 | Middle French | facteur | — |
| 4 | Latin | factor | One who or which does or makes something; doer,... |
| 5 | Latin | faciō | — |
| 6 | Latin | -torium | nominative neuter singular of -tōrius; accusative... |
| 7 | Latin | -tōrius | — |
| 8 | Latin | -tor | -er |
| 9 | Proto-Italic | -tōr | — |
| 10 | Proto-Indo-European | -tōr | Derives agent nouns from verbs, denoting someone... |
| 11 | Proto-Indo-European | -tor-s | — |