Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “pejorative” come from?

pejorative (English) comes from Latin pēiōrātus, from Latin pēior, from Latin malus, from Ancient Greek μηλέα, from Ancient Greek μῆλον, from Proto-Indo-European (s)meh₁l- — small animal”; small animal.

pejorative (English): Disparaging, belittling or derogatory; A...

Definitions

  1. Disparaging, belittling or derogatory; A...

Ancestry of “pejorative”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Latinpēiōrātus—
2Latinpēior—
3Latinmalusunpleasant, distressing, painful, nasty, bad;...
4Ancient Greekμηλέα—
5Ancient Greekμῆλονapple; any fruit from a tree; a woman's breast
6Proto-Indo-European(s)meh₁l-small animal”; small animal

Words derived from “pejorative”

  • pejoratively
  • nonpejorative
Every word from Proto-Indo-European (s)meh₁l- →