Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “respect” come from?

Respect comes from Middle English respect, from Old French respect, from Latin respectus, the past participle of respicere, meaning "to look back at or regard," formed from re- "back" and specere "to look," ultimately from Proto-Indo-European wer-.

respect (English): an attitude of consideration or high regard; good...

Definitions

  1. an attitude of consideration or high regard; good...

Ancestry of “respect”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Middle Englishrespect—
2Old Frenchrespect—
3Latinrespectusrespected; looking back; regard, consideration,...
4Latinrespiciō—
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 “respect”

  • respectable
  • respectful
  • dis
  • respectfully
  • respectability
  • disrespect
  • disrespectful
  • respectably
  • respecter
  • disrespectfully
  • respectfulness
  • unrespectable
  • disrespectable
  • nonrespectable
  • disrespectfulness
  • disrespectability
  • respectless
  • dissimilate
  • unrespectability
  • respectworthy
  • unrespectful
  • respectableness
  • disrespecter
  • ultrarespectable
Every word from Proto-Indo-European pr̥tós →