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Where does “repellent” come from?

Repellent comes from Latin repellens, the present participle of repello, combining the prefix re- with a verb from Proto-Italic pelnō, ultimately derived from Proto-Indo-European pelh₂-, meaning to drive or push away.

repellent (English): Tending or able to repel; driving back;...

Definitions

  1. Tending or able to repel; driving back;...

Ancestry of “repellent”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Latinrepellensrepelling; rejecting
2Latinrepellō—
3Latinrĕ-—
4Latinprōdūcō—
5Latinprō-—
6Proto-Italic*pro-—
7Proto-Indo-Europeanpro-toward, forward
8Proto-Indo-Europeanpor-to give birth; forward, through; going, passage
9Proto-Indo-Europeanper-before, in front; first; to go through
10Proto-Indo-Europeanpr̥tóspassed , crossed

Words derived from “repellent”

  • repellant
  • repellency
  • repellently
  • repellantly
  • chemorepellent
  • nonrepellent
  • unrepellent
  • self-repellency
Every word from Proto-Indo-European pr̥tós →