Where does “privacy” come from?
Privacy derives from English private, from Latin privatus meaning "set apart," combined with the Latin suffix -cia, which developed from Latin -ia, from Ancient Greek -ία, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European -h₂.
privacy (English): The state of being secluded from the presence,...
Definitions
- The state of being secluded from the presence,...
Ancestry of “privacy”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | private | Belonging to, concerning, or accessible only to... |
| 2 | Latin | prīvātus | bereaved, deprived, robbed or stripped of something, having been deprived of something |
| 3 | Latin | prīvō | to bereave, deprive, rob or strip of something |
| 4 | French | ferriprive | Suffering from a deficiency of iron |
| 5 | Latin | ferrum | iron; any tool made of iron; fight, clash |
| 6 | Cornish | -er | Forms masculine agent nouns |
| 7 | English | -er | A person or thing that does an action indicated... |
| 8 | Middle English | -er | agentive suffix; agent noun suffix |
| 9 | Old French | -er | Alternative form of -ier, verbal suffix;... |
| 10 | Latin | -āre | first conjugation |
| 11 | Proto-Italic | -āō | Forms primarily denominative verbs |
| 12 | Proto-Indo-European | -eh₂yéti | Creates iterative/ frequentative/ intensive... |
| 13 | Proto-Indo-European | -yéti | Creates intransitive, often deponent,... |
| 14 | Proto-Indo-European | yé- | — |