Where does “retire” come from?

Retire comes from Middle French retirer, formed from Old French re- (again) and tirer (to draw), ultimately derived from Proto-Indo-European wer- (to turn).

retire (English): To stop working on a permanent basis, usually...

Definitions

  1. To stop working on a permanent basis, usually...

Ancestry of “retire”, step by step

retire traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.

via English Tire

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1EnglishTireTo become sleepy or weary
2Middle Englishtireequipment
3Old Frenchtirerto pull
4Gothic𐍄𐌹𐍂𐌰𐌽to tear away, remove
5Proto-Germanicteranąto tear; snatch or pull off (from); tug
6Proto-Indo-Europeander-to split, to separate; to tear, to crack, to...

via Middle French retirer

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Middle Frenchretirerto go; to travel
2Old Frenchretirer—

Words derived from “retire”

Every word from Proto-Indo-European der- →Every word from Proto-Germanic teraną →Every word from Gothic 𐍄𐌹𐍂𐌰𐌽 →