Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “retreating” come from?

Retreating comes from English retreat, from Old French re- combined with trahere, a Latin verb meaning to draw or pull.

retreating (English): present participle of retreat; The act of moving...

Definitions

  1. present participle of retreat; The act of moving...

Ancestry of “retreating”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1EnglishretreatThe act of pulling back or withdrawing, as from...
2Middle Englishretret—
3Old Frenchretrait—
4Latinretractuswithdrawn
5Latinretrahō—
6Latinrĕ-—
7Latinprōdūcō—
8Latinprō-—
9Proto-Italic*pro-—
10Proto-Indo-Europeanpro-toward, forward
11Proto-Indo-Europeanpor-to give birth; forward, through; going, passage
12Proto-Indo-Europeanper-before, in front; first; to go through
13Proto-Indo-Europeanpr̥tóspassed , crossed
Every word from Proto-Indo-European pr̥tós →