Where does “suburb” come from?
Suburb comes from Old French suburbe, from Latin suburbium meaning "area outside the city," composed of Latin sub meaning "under" and urbs meaning "city," ultimately from Proto-Indo-European wer- meaning "to turn" or "enclose."
suburb (English): A residential area located on the outskirts of a...
Definitions
- A residential area located on the outskirts of a...
Ancestry of “suburb”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Old French | suburbe | — |
| 2 | Latin | suburbium | suburb |
| 3 | Latin | urbs | a city, walled town; the City, Rome |
| 4 | Proto-Italic | worβis | city |
| 5 | Proto-Indo-European | werbʰ- | to enclose |
| 6 | Proto-Indo-European | werb- | to throw, twist, bend; to turn, bend, twist; to... |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | wer- | to burn; to cover, heed, notice; squirrel |