Where does “shareholder” come from?
Shareholder derives from English share and English hold, ultimately tracing through Old French -er and Latin -are to Ancient Greek ἔλαιον.
shareholder (English): One who owns shares of stock in a corporation
Definitions
- One who owns shares of stock in a corporation
Ancestry of “shareholder”, step by step
shareholder traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via English Hölder
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | Hölder | A thing that holds |
| 2 | English | -er | A person or thing that does an action indicated... |
| 3 | Middle English | -er | agentive suffix; agent noun suffix |
| 4 | Old French | -er | Alternative form of -ier, verbal suffix;... |
| 5 | Latin | -āre | first conjugation |
| 6 | Proto-Italic | -āō | Forms primarily denominative verbs |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | -eh₂yéti | Creates iterative/ frequentative/ intensive... |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | -yéti | Creates intransitive, often deponent,... |
| 9 | Proto-Indo-European | yé- | — |
| 10 | Chichewa | iye | he, she |
via English share
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | share | A portion of something, especially a portion... |
| 2 | Middle English | schare | A portion or share |
| 3 | Old English | scearu | a cutting; shaving; a shearing; tonsure |
| 4 | Proto-West Germanic | *skaru | — |
| 5 | Proto-Germanic | skarō | a portion; share; a division; detachment; troop;... |
| 6 | Proto-Indo-European | sḱer- | to caw, crow |