Where does “provocative” come from?

Provocative comes from Middle French provocatif, meaning "tending to provoke or incite."

provocative (English): Serving or tending to elicit a strong, often...

Definitions

  1. Serving or tending to elicit a strong, often...

Ancestry of “provocative”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Middle Frenchprovocatif—
2Latinprovocativuselicited
3Latinprōvocōto call forth, summon
4Latinprō-forward direction, forward movement
5Proto-Italic*pro-pro- see the Latin entry for further meanings
6Proto-Indo-Europeanpro-toward, forward
7Proto-Indo-Europeanpor-to give birth; forward, through; going, passage
8Proto-Indo-Europeanper-before, in front; first; to go through
9Proto-Indo-Europeanpr̥tóspassed , crossed

Words derived from “provocative”

Every word from Proto-Indo-European pr̥tós →