Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “subfamily” come from?

Subfamily comes from English family, from Latin familia, from Latin famulus, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European dʰeh₁-, meaning "to place" or "put."

subfamily (English): A taxonomic category ranking between a family and...

Definitions

  1. A taxonomic category ranking between a family and...

Ancestry of “subfamily”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1EnglishfamilyA group of people who are closely related to one...
2Middle Englishfamylye—
3Latinfamiliafamily; household; A quantity of land adequate...
4Latinfamulusserving, servile; a servant, slave
5Proto-Italicfamelosservile, domestic
6Proto-Indo-Europeandʰh₁-m-eló-—
7Proto-Indo-Europeandʰeh₁-to do, put, place
Every word from Proto-Indo-European dʰeh₁- →