Where does “pristine” come from?
Pristine comes from Middle French pristin, from Latin pristinus meaning "former or original," from the comparative form prius, ultimately derived from Proto-Indo-European per- with the comparative suffix -yōs.
pristine (English): Unspoiled; still with its original purity;...
Definitions
- Unspoiled; still with its original purity;...
Ancestry of “pristine”, step by step
pristine traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via Middle French pristin
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Middle French | pristin | former; old; unspoiled; as new |
| 2 | Latin | pristinus | former, early, original, primitive; pristine;... |
| 3 | Latin | prius | nominative neuter singular of prior; accusative... |
| 4 | Latin | prior | former, prior, previous; the first, the original;... |
| 5 | Proto-Italic | priōs | former |
| 6 | Proto-Italic | prijōs | — |
| 7 | Proto-Italic | -jōs | Forms comparative adjectives |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | -yós | Creates adjectives from noun or verb stems |