Where does “rocket scientist” come from?
rocket scientist (English) comes from English rocket, from French roquette, from Italian rocchetta, from Italian rocchetto, from Italian -etto, from English -et, from Middle English -et, from Old French -et — Forms adjectives from nouns, indicating the possession of a thing or a quality.
rocket scientist (English): An aerospace engineer
Definitions
- An aerospace engineer
Ancestry of “rocket scientist”, step by step
rocket scientist traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via English rocket
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | rocket | A rocket engine; A non-guided missile propelled... |
| 2 | French | roquette | rocket weapon |
| 3 | Italian | rocchetta | incendiary rocket |
| 4 | Italian | rocchetto | spool; reel; coil |
| 5 | Italian | -etto | Alterative suffix used to form melioratives,... |
| 6 | English | -et | Used to form diminutives, loosely construed |
| 7 | Middle English | -et | Forms diminutive nouns from nouns; in some words,... |
| 8 | Old French | -et | Used to form a diminutive, masculine noun;... |
| 9 | Latin | -ātus | ed |
| 10 | Proto-Italic | -ātos | — |
| 11 | Proto-Indo-European | -éh₂tos | Forms adjectives from nouns, indicating the possession of a thing or a quality |
via English scientist
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | scientist | One whose activities make use of the scientific... |
| 2 | English | -ist | Added to words to form nouns denoting |
| 3 | Old French | -iste | — |
| 4 | Latin | -ista | -ist; one who practises or believes |
| 5 | Ancient Greek | -ιστής | Alternative form of -τής; -ist |
| 6 | Ancient Greek | -τής | Appended to verbs to form agent nouns |
| 7 | Proto-Hellenic | -tās | — |