Where does “pertussis” come from?
Pertussis comes from Latin per- combined with a Latin root from Proto-Indo-European (s)tew-, meaning to push or thrust, through intermediate Proto-Indo-European forms tud-ti-s- and (s)tewd-.
pertussis (English): Whooping cough
Ancestry of “pertussis”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | Latin | tussis | cough |
| 2 | Proto-Italic | tussis | — |
| 3 | Proto-Indo-European | tud-ti-s | cough |
| 4 | Proto-Indo-European | (s)tewd- | to push, to hit |
| 5 | Proto-Indo-European | stew- | to praise, laud |
Words derived from “pertussis”