Where does “nefast” come from?
nefast (English) comes from French néfaste, from Latin nefastus, from Latin nefās, from Latin nē, from Latin gēns, from Proto-Italic *gentis, from Proto-Indo-European ǵénh₁tis, from Proto-Indo-European ǵenh₁- — to produce, to beget, to give birth.
nefast (English): wicked
Ancestry of “nefast”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | French | néfaste | harmful, toxic; saddening |
| 2 | Latin | nefastus | on which judgment could not be pronounced or... |
| 3 | Latin | nefās | — |
| 4 | Latin | nē | — |
| 5 | Latin | gēns | — |
| 6 | Proto-Italic | *gentis | — |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | ǵénh₁tis | birth, production |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | ǵenh₁- | to produce, to beget, to give birth |