Where does “prelaw” come from?

prelaw (English) comes from English Law, from English speaker, from English -ine, from French -ine, from French -é, from Middle French -é, from Old French -é, from Latin -a.

prelaw (English): Any course of study taken by an undergraduate in...

Definitions

  1. Any course of study taken by an undergraduate in...

Ancestry of “prelaw”, step by step

prelaw traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.

via English Law

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1EnglishLawperhaps originally meaning someone who lives near a burial mound
2EnglishspeakerOne who speaks; Loudspeaker; Speakerphone
3English-ineOf or pertaining to; Used to form demonyms;...
4French-inefeminine singular of -in; female equivalent of...
5Frenchpast participle root verb suffix of regular -er...
6Middle Frenchpast participle root verb suffix of regular; -ed, -en, -n
7Old Frenchused to form past participles of regular -er...
8Latin-asuffixed to the roots of verbs, forms agent...
9Proto-ItalicForms masculine agent nouns from prefixed or compounded bases
10Proto-Indo-European-éh₂

via English pre

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1EnglishpreBefore; Precum, Cowper's fluid, pre-ejaculate; To...
2Latinpraebefore; in front; in front of
3Proto-Italicpraibefore; in front of
4Proto-Indo-Europeanpreh₂-before, in front
5Proto-Indo-Europeanper-before, in front; first; to go through
6Proto-Indo-Europeanpr̥tóspassed , crossed
Every word from Proto-Indo-European -éh₂