Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “reform” come from?

Reform comes from Old French reformer, from Latin reformāre meaning to shape again, derived from the prefix re- and forma meaning form, ultimately from Ancient Greek μορφή and Proto-Indo-European wer-.

reform (English): The change of something that is defective,...

Definitions

  1. The change of something that is defective,...

Ancestry of “reform”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1GermanReformreform
2Frenchréformereform; first-person singular present indicative...
3Frenchréformerto reform
4Latinrefōrmō—
5Latinrĕ-—
6Latinprōdūcō—
7Latinprō-—
8Proto-Italic*pro-—
9Proto-Indo-Europeanpro-toward, forward
10Proto-Indo-Europeanpor-to give birth; forward, through; going, passage
11Proto-Indo-Europeanper-before, in front; first; to go through
12Proto-Indo-Europeanpr̥tóspassed , crossed

Words derived from “reform”

  • reformer
  • reformist
  • reformism
  • reformate
  • postreform
  • reformable
  • irreformable
  • antireform
  • proreform
  • unreformable
  • reformability
  • reformee
  • counterreform
  • antireformist
  • nonreform
  • irreformably
  • unreformability
  • antireformer
  • antireformism
  • reformest
  • reformeth
  • nonreformable
  • counterreformer
  • reformeress
Every word from Proto-Indo-European pr̥tós →