Where does “perfidy” come from?
Perfidy comes from Middle French perfidie, from Latin perfidus meaning faithless, derived from Latin fides meaning faith, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European bʰeydʰ-.
perfidy (English): A state or act of violating faith or allegiance;...
Definitions
- A state or act of violating faith or allegiance;...
Ancestry of “perfidy”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Middle French | perfidie | — |
| 2 | Latin | perfidia | faithlessness, dishonesty, treachery, falsehood,... |
| 3 | Latin | perfidus | That breaks his promise; faithless, false,... |
| 4 | Latin | per | through, by means of; throughout, during |
| 5 | Latin | Ad | toward, to |
| 6 | Latin | illic | he, she, it, yonder, that, overthere; in that... |
| 7 | Latin | ille | that; those; "; demonstrative pronoun "; that... |
| 8 | Latin | olle | Archaic form of ille |
| 9 | Proto-Italic | *olnos | that |