Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “pseudo” come from?

Pseudo comes from Ancient Greek ψευδής, meaning false or deceitful.

pseudo (English): An intellectually pretentious person; a...

Definitions

  1. An intellectually pretentious person; a...

Ancestry of “pseudo”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Englishpseudo-False, not genuine, fake
2Ancient Greekψευδήςlying, false, untrue; deceived, beguiled
3Ancient Greek-ήςadjective suffix
4Proto-Indo-European-ēsPrimarily forms adjectival bahuvrīhi compounds
5Proto-Indo-European-ess—
6Proto-Indo-European-osCreates action nouns or result nouns from verbs;...

Words derived from “pseudo”

  • pseudocolored
  • pseudoblepsis
Every word from Proto-Indo-European -os →