Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “scandalous” come from?

Scandalous comes from French scandaleuse, derived from Latin scandalosus, meaning causing offense or disgrace.

scandalous (English): wrong, immoral, causing a scandal; malicious,...

Definitions

  1. wrong, immoral, causing a scandal; malicious,...

Ancestry of “scandalous”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Frenchscandaleusefeminine singular of scandaleux; scandalous
2Frenchscandaleuxscandalous
3Latinscandalosus—
4Ecclesiastical Latinscandalumthat on which one trips, cause of offense;...
5Ancient Greekσκάνδαλονtrap, snare; enticement, temptation; offense,...
6Proto-Indo-Europeanskand-to jump, go up; to shine, to glow; bright

Words derived from “scandalous”

  • scandalously
  • scandalousness
  • unscandalous
  • nonscandalous
Every word from Proto-Indo-European skand- →