Where does “offend” come from?
Offend comes from Middle French offendre, from Latin offendere meaning to strike against, from the prefix ob- combined with a root related to Proto-Indo-European gʷʰen-.
offend (English): To hurt the feelings of; to displease; to make...
Definitions
- To hurt the feelings of; to displease; to make...
Ancestry of “offend”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Middle French | offendre | to attack; to offend |
| 2 | Old French | offendre | to attack; to offend |
| 3 | Latin | offendō | to hit, thrust, strike against something |
| 4 | Latin | ob- | towards; against |
| 5 | Latin | obolus | obolus (Greek coin) |
| 6 | Ancient Greek | ὀβολός | obol, obolus, used at Athens as both a weight and... |
| 7 | Ancient Greek | ὀβελός | a spit, rod; a horizontal line |
| 8 | Ancient Greek | βέλος | missile, arrow, dart; weapon; something quickly... |
| 9 | Proto-Indo-European | gʷélHos | — |
| 10 | Proto-Indo-European | gʷelH- | to throw, reach, pierce; to hit by throwing |