Where does “overreact” come from?
Overreact combines Old English ofer- (over) with Old French re- and Latin re- (back, again) plus Latin actum (done), from ago (to drive, do), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European h₂eǵ-.
overreact (English): To react too much or too intensely
Definitions
- To react too much or too intensely
Ancestry of “overreact”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | English | Over- | — |
| 2 | English | over | Discontinued; ended or concluded; Thoroughly;... |
| 3 | Middle English | over | riverbank, seashore, brink |
| 4 | Old English | ōfer | riverbank, seashore, brink, edge, margin, border |
| 5 | Proto-West Germanic | obar | over, above |
| 6 | Proto-Germanic | uber | over; over, above |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | upér | above; over |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | upó | under, below |
| 9 | Proto-Indo-European | h₃ewp- | — |
Words derived from “overreact”