Where does “recommence” come from?
Recommence comes from Middle French recommencer, from Old French recommencier, composed of Old French re- (again) and Latin re- (back, again) ultimately from Proto-Indo-European wer- (to turn).
recommence (English): To begin again
Ancestry of “recommence”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | Middle French | recommencer | — |
| 2 | Old French | recommencier | to restart |
| 3 | Old French | re- | re- |
| 4 | Latin | rĕ- | — |
| 5 | Latin | prōdūcō | — |
| 6 | Latin | prō- | — |
| 7 | Proto-Italic | *pro- | — |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | pro- | toward, forward |
| 9 | Proto-Indo-European | por- | to give birth; forward, through; going, passage |
| 10 | Proto-Indo-European | per- | before, in front; first; to go through |
| 11 | Proto-Indo-European | pr̥tós | passed , crossed |