Where does “obese” come from?
Obese comes from Latin obesus, meaning excessively fat, derived from obedō, composed of the prefix ob- and ex-, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European eǵ-.
obese (English): Extremely overweight, especially: weighing more...
Definitions
- Extremely overweight, especially: weighing more...
Ancestry of “obese”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Latin | obēsus | eaten away, devoured, having been eaten away |
| 2 | Latin | obedō | to eat, eat away, or devour |
| 3 | Latin | ob- | towards; against |
| 4 | Latin | obolus | obolus (Greek coin) |
| 5 | Ancient Greek | ὀβολός | obol, obolus, used at Athens as both a weight and... |
| 6 | Ancient Greek | ὀβελός | a spit, rod; a horizontal line |
| 7 | Ancient Greek | βέλος | missile, arrow, dart; weapon; something quickly... |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | gʷélHos | — |
| 9 | Proto-Indo-European | gʷelH- | to throw, reach, pierce; to hit by throwing |