Where does “reptile” come from?

Reptile comes from Middle English reptil, from Old French reptile, from Late Latin reptile, from Latin reptilis meaning "creeping," derived from the suffix -ilis and the root rep- ultimately from Proto-Indo-European h₁reh₁p-.

reptile (English): A cold-blooded vertebrate of the class...

Definitions

  1. A cold-blooded vertebrate of the class...

Ancestry of “reptile”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Middle Englishreptil—
2Old Frenchreptile—
3Late Latinreptileneuter nominative singular of rēptilis; neuter...
4Latinreptiliscreeping, crawling
5Latinrēpōto creep, crawl
6Proto-Italicrēpō—
7Proto-Indo-Europeanh₁reh₁p-to creep

Words derived from “reptile”

Every word from Proto-Indo-European h₁reh₁p- →Every word from Proto-Italic rēpō →Every word from Latin rēpō →