Where does “priestcraft” come from?
Priestcraft derives from English priest and English craft, where Old English -cræft comes from Latin presbyter (elder), Latin pressus (pressed), Latin premere (to press), and Proto-Indo-European per-.
priestcraft (English): The craft of performing the duties of a priest;...
Definitions
- The craft of performing the duties of a priest;...
Ancestry of “priestcraft”, step by step
priestcraft traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via English priest
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | priest | a religious clergyman who is trained to perform... |
| 2 | Middle English | prest | loan, borrowing; tax, fee, levy; advance payment |
| 3 | Old French | prest | loan; monetary gift |
| 4 | Latin | pressus | pressed, having been pressed, squeezed;... |
| 5 | Latin | premere | second-person singular future passive indicative... |
| 6 | Latin | premo | I press; I pursue |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | pres- | to press |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | per- | before, in front; first; to go through |
| 9 | Proto-Indo-European | pr̥tós | passed , crossed |
via English craft
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | craft | Strength; power; might; force; Intellectual... |
| 2 | German | kraft | on the basis of; by virtue of; by means of,... |
| 3 | Middle High German | kraft | — |
| 4 | Old High German | kraft | — |
| 5 | Proto-West Germanic | kraftu | strength, power; skill |
| 6 | Proto-Germanic | kraftuz | strength, power |
| 7 | Proto-Germanic | -þuz | Forms result nouns from verb roots, usually from... |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | -tus | Derives action nouns from verb roots |