Where does “poisoner” come from?
Poisoner comes from English poison plus the agent suffix -er, deriving ultimately from Old French poison (a drink or potion) via Latin pōtiō and pōtiōnem, related to the Proto-Indo-European root peh₃- meaning to drink or sip.
poisoner (English): A person who poisons something or someone
Definitions
- A person who poisons something or someone
Ancestry of “poisoner”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | poison | A substance that is harmful or lethal to a living... |
| 2 | Middle English | poysoun | A poison; a poisonous substance especially as a drink |
| 3 | Old French | poison | poison; potion |
| 4 | Latin | pōtiō | drinking |
| 5 | Latin | -tiō | tion, -ation, -ing |
| 6 | Latin | dissertātiō | (spoken) dissertation, discourse, disquisition |
| 7 | Latin | dissertus | arranged, disposed; explained |
| 8 | Latin | disserere | second-person singular future passive indicative... |
| 9 | Latin | dis- | asunder, apart, in two; reversal, removal;... |
| 10 | Latin | calceus | shoe |
| 11 | Latin | calx | limestone; chalk; the finish line |
| 12 | Ancient Greek | χάλιξ | small stone, pebble; gravel, rubble |