Where does “multivitamin” come from?
Multivitamin comes from English vitamin, ultimately derived from Latin vitālis meaning "of life" combined with English amine, which traces to ammonia from Latin sal ammoniacus and Proto-Indo-European gʷeih₃w- meaning "to live."
multivitamin (English): A mixture of vitamins; A preparation containing...
Definitions
- A mixture of vitamins; A preparation containing...
Ancestry of “multivitamin”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | vitamin | Any of a specific group of organic compounds... |
| 2 | English | vitamine | Obsolete form of vitamin |
| 3 | English | amine | A functional group formally derived from ammonia... |
| 4 | English | -ine | Of or pertaining to; Used to form demonyms;... |
| 5 | French | -ine | feminine singular of -in; female equivalent of... |
| 6 | French | -é | past participle root verb suffix of regular -er... |
| 7 | Middle French | -é | past participle root verb suffix of regular; -ed, -en, -n |
| 8 | Old French | -é | used to form past participles of regular -er... |
| 9 | Latin | -a | suffixed to the roots of verbs, forms agent... |
| 10 | Proto-Italic | -ā | Forms masculine agent nouns from prefixed or compounded bases |
| 11 | Proto-Indo-European | -éh₂ | — |