Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “nihilistic” come from?

Nihilistic derives from English nihilist plus the suffix -ist, which comes from Latin -ista, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European -kos and -yéti.

nihilistic (English): Of or relating to nihilism

Definitions

  1. Of or relating to nihilism

Ancestry of “nihilistic”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1English-icUsed to form adjectives from nouns with the...
2EnglishimageAn optical or other representation of a real...
3Frenchimagepicture, image; frame; first-person singular...
4Portugueseimagemimage; picture; figure; image; image; face
5Spanishimagenimage
6Italianimmagineimage; imago
7Latinimāginem—
8Latinim-Alternative form of in-; form of "in"; in
9Latinīn-—
10Latinîn—
11Latinenlookǃ beholdǃ; reallyǃ?; come onǃ
12Proto-Italicenin
13Proto-Indo-Europeanh₁énin

Words derived from “nihilistic”

  • nihilistically
  • antinihilistic
  • unnihilistic
Every word from Proto-Indo-European h₁én →