Where does “purebred” come from?
Purebred derives from English pure and bred, with pure tracing through Middle English pur and Old French pur to Latin purus, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European per- meaning to lead or pass through.
purebred (English): Having genuine parents of the same breed, usually...
Definitions
- Having genuine parents of the same breed, usually...
Ancestry of “purebred”, step by step
purebred traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via English pure
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | pure | Free of flaws or imperfections; unsullied; Free... |
| 2 | Middle English | pure | pure, unadulterated, undiluted, untarnished;... |
| 3 | Old French | pur | pure; Alternative form of por |
| 4 | Old French | autre | Alternative form of altre; other |
| 5 | Old French | vie | life |
| 6 | Old French | viḍe | — |
| 7 | Latin | vitam | accusative singular of vīta |
| 8 | Latin | vīta | life |
| 9 | Latin | vīvō | to live |
| 10 | Proto-Italic | gʷīwō | live, be alive |
| 11 | Proto-Indo-European | gʷíh₃weti | to live, to be alive |
| 12 | Proto-Indo-European | gʷih₃wós | alive, living |
| 13 | Proto-Indo-European | gʷeih₃w- | to live |
via English bred
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | bred | simple past tense and past participle of breed |
| 2 | Middle English | bred | bread, pastry; food, nourishment |
| 3 | Old English | bred | surface; plank, board; table, tablet |
| 4 | Old English | -en | mæġþ + API → mæġden; cocc + API → cycen, cicen;... |
| 5 | Old Norse | -inn | Used to create adjectives from nouns, meaning... |
| 6 | Proto-Norse | -īna- | — |
| 7 | Proto-Germanic | -īnaz | -en |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | -iHnos | Creates adjectives of materials |
| 9 | Proto-Indo-European | -no- | adjectival suffix |