Where does “respectability” come from?
Respectability derives from Middle English -ablete, from Middle French -ableté, from Latin respectus combined with the Latin suffix -ibilis, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European wert-.
respectability (English): The quality of being respectable; The class of...
Definitions
- The quality of being respectable; The class of...
Ancestry of “respectability”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | English | respect | an attitude of consideration or high regard; good... |
| 2 | Middle English | respect | — |
| 3 | Old French | respect | — |
| 4 | Latin | respectus | respected; looking back; regard, consideration,... |
| 5 | Latin | respiciō | — |
| 6 | Latin | rĕ- | — |
| 7 | Latin | prōdūcō | — |
| 8 | Latin | prō- | — |
| 9 | Proto-Italic | *pro- | — |
| 10 | Proto-Indo-European | pro- | toward, forward |
| 11 | Proto-Indo-European | por- | to give birth; forward, through; going, passage |
| 12 | Proto-Indo-European | per- | before, in front; first; to go through |
| 13 | Proto-Indo-European | pr̥tós | passed , crossed |
Words derived from “respectability”