Where does “policyholder” come from?

Policyholder comes from English policy and English holder, where policy derives from Ancient Greek póleis meaning city-state, and holder from English hold.

policyholder (English): A person who holds an insurance policy,...

Definitions

  1. A person who holds an insurance policy,...

Ancestry of “policyholder”, step by step

policyholder traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.

via English policy

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1EnglishpolicyA principle of behaviour, conduct etc. thought to...
2Middle Englishpolicie
3Old Frenchpolicie
4Latinpolītīastate, government, administration
5Ancient Greekπολιτείαthe relation in which a citizen stands to the...
6Ancient Greekπολῑ́τηςcitizen
7Ancient Greek-τηςForms nouns representing a state of being; Added...
8Proto-Hellenic-tāts
9Proto-Indo-European-teh₂tsUsed to form nouns representing state of being
10Proto-Indo-European-teh₂Used to form nouns representing state of being
11Proto-Indo-European-tósCreates verbal adjectives from verb stems

via English Hölder

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1EnglishHölderA thing that holds
2English-erA person or thing that does an action indicated...
3Middle English-eragentive suffix; agent noun suffix
4Old French-erAlternative form of -ier, verbal suffix;...
5Latin-ārefirst conjugation
6Proto-Italic-āōForms primarily denominative verbs
7Proto-Indo-European-eh₂yétiCreates iterative/ frequentative/ intensive...
8Proto-Indo-European-yétiCreates intransitive, often deponent,...
9Proto-Indo-Europeanyé-
10Chichewaiyehe, she
Every word from Proto-Indo-European -tós