Where does “pushover” come from?
Pushover derives from English push and over, where push comes from Middle French pousser, from Frankish pokka, from Latin pulsare meaning to strike or beat, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European bʰew-.
pushover (English): Someone who is easily swayed or influenced to...
Definitions
- Someone who is easily swayed or influenced to...
Ancestry of “pushover”, step by step
pushover traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via English push
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | push | To apply a force to such that it moves away from... |
| 2 | Middle English | pushen | — |
| 3 | Middle French | pousser | — |
| 4 | Old French | poulser | — |
| 5 | Latin | pulsare | present active infinitive of pulsō; second-person... |
| 6 | Latin | pulso | I push, strike, beat, batter, hammer; knock on;... |
| 7 | Latin | pulsus | pulse, impulse, beat, stroke; expelled, kicked... |
| 8 | Latin | pellō | to push, drive, hurl, impel, propel; expel, banish, eject, thrust out |
| 9 | Proto-Italic | pelnō | approach, go to; bring close |
| 10 | Proto-Indo-European | pelh₂- | to approach |
| 11 | Proto-Indo-European | pel- | to cover, to wrap; skin, hide, cloth; to fold |
via English over
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | over | Discontinued; ended or concluded; Thoroughly;... |
| 2 | Middle English | over | riverbank, seashore, brink |
| 3 | Old English | ōfer | riverbank, seashore, brink, edge, margin, border |
| 4 | Proto-West Germanic | obar | over, above |
| 5 | Proto-Germanic | uber | over; over, above |
| 6 | Proto-Indo-European | upér | above; over |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | upó | under, below |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | h₃ewp- | — |