Where does “seropositive” come from?

Seropositive comes from English positive, from Old French positif, from Latin positivus, formed with the Latin suffix -ivus derived from Proto-Indo-European -iHwós and -wós.

seropositive (English): Testing positive for a given pathogen,...

Definitions

  1. Testing positive for a given pathogen,...

Ancestry of “seropositive”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1EnglishpositiveNot negative or neutral; Formally laid down;...
2Old Frenchpositif—
3Latinposītivuspositive
4Latinpōnōto place; to put; to lay
5Proto-Italicpoznō—
6Proto-Italicpozinō—
7Proto-Italicsinō—
Every word from Proto-Italic sinō →Every word from Proto-Italic pozinō →Every word from Proto-Italic poznō →