Where does “prince” come from?

Prince comes from Old French prince, from Latin princeps, meaning "first" or "chief," derived from the root of Latin capio, "to take," with the suffix Latin -ia.

prince (English): A ruler, a sovereign; a king, monarch; A female...

Definitions

  1. A ruler, a sovereign; a king, monarch; A female...

Ancestry of “prince”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Old Frenchprinceprince
2Latinprīncepsfirst, foremost
3Latinprimoceps
4Latincapiōto take, to capture, to catch, to seize, to take captive, to storm
5Proto-Italickapiōtake
6Proto-Italickapjōtake, seize
7Proto-Indo-Europeankh₂pyéti
8Proto-Indo-Europeankeh₂p-to seize, grab; to seize; take up; lift; to take,...
Every word from Proto-Indo-European keh₂p-