Where does “neurodegenerative” come from?
Neurodegenerative is a modern English compound combining neuro- with degenerate, which comes from Latin degeneratus, the past participle of degenerare, meaning to fall away from one's kind, from de- and genus, meaning race or kind, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European ǵenh₁-.
neurodegenerative (English): Of, pertaining to, or resulting in the...
Definitions
- Of, pertaining to, or resulting in the...
Ancestry of “neurodegenerative”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | degenerative | Characterized by or causing degeneration |
| 2 | English | degenerate | Having deteriorated, degraded or fallen from... |
| 3 | Latin | degenero | I degenerate, deteriorate |
| 4 | Latin | degener | of inferior stock, low-born; inferior to one’s... |
| 5 | Latin | dē- | of; from |
| 6 | Latin | dē | of; concerning; about |
| 7 | Latin | post | behind; after, since, besides, except; behind,... |
| 8 | Latin | poste | ablative singular of postis |
| 9 | Proto-Italic | posti | behind, after |
| 10 | Proto-Indo-European | pósti | after |
| 11 | Proto-Indo-European | pós | afterwards, post; by, at |