Where does “perturb” come from?
Perturb comes from Middle English perturben, from Old French perturber, from Latin perturbo, a compound of Latin per- (through) and a root from Proto-Indo-European twerH- (to turn or twist).
perturb (English): To disturb; to bother or unsettle; To slightly...
Definitions
- To disturb; to bother or unsettle; To slightly...
Ancestry of “perturb”, step by step
perturb traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via French perturber
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | French | perturber | to disrupt, to disturb; to throw off, to fluster |
| 2 | Italian | perturbare | to upset, disturb, perturb |
| 3 | Russian | пертурбация | — |
| 4 | Spanish | perturbar | to perturb, to disturb, to bother |
| 5 | Latin | perturbō | to confuse |
| 6 | Latin | turbo | tornado, whirlwind; crowd; I disturb, unsettle,... |
| 7 | Latin | turba | stir, disturbance, tumult, uproar, trouble; mob,... |
| 8 | Ancient Greek | τύρβη | disorder, confusion, tumult; poetic rout, revelry |
| 9 | Proto-Indo-European | twerH- | to enclose, fence in; to grab, seize; to stir |
via Middle English perturben
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Middle English | perturben | — |
| 2 | Old French | perturber | — |
| 3 | Latin | perturbāre | — |