Etymology Explorer › English

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

  1. To disturb; to bother or unsettle; To slightly...

Ancestry of “perturb”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Frenchperturberto disrupt, to disturb; to throw off, to fluster
2Italianperturbareto upset, disturb, perturb
3Russianпертурбация—
4Spanishperturbarto perturb, to disturb, to bother
5Latinperturbō—
6Latinturbotornado, whirlwind; crowd; I disturb, unsettle,...
7Latinturbastir, disturbance, tumult, uproar, trouble; mob,...
8Ancient Greekτύρβηdisorder, confusion, tumult; poetic rout, revelry
9Proto-Indo-EuropeantwerH-to enclose, fence in; to grab, seize; to stir

Words derived from “perturb”

  • perturbing
  • imperturbability
  • perturbative
  • perturber
  • nonperturbative
  • perturbatively
  • perturbable
  • unperturbable
  • nonperturbing
  • perturbingly
  • nonperturbatively
  • perturbability
  • unperturbability
  • unperturbably
  • perturbativity
  • nonpertubative
  • deperturb
  • perturbagen
  • perturbi
  • perturbo
  • perturbar
Every word from Proto-Indo-European twerH- →