Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “suffice” come from?

Suffice derives from Middle English suffisen, from Middle French souffire, from Latin sufficio (to supply or be adequate), composed of Latin sub- (under) and facio (to make or do), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European dʰeh₁- (to put or place).

suffice (English): To be enough or sufficient; to meet the need ; to...

Definitions

  1. To be enough or sufficient; to meet the need ; to...

Ancestry of “suffice”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Middle Englishsuffisen—
2Middle Frenchsouffire—
3Latinsufficiō—
4Latinfaciō—
5Latin-toriumnominative neuter singular of -tōrius; accusative...
6Latin-tōrius—
7Latin-tor-er
8Proto-Italic-tōr—
9Proto-Indo-European-tōrDerives agent nouns from verbs, denoting someone...
10Proto-Indo-European-tor-s—

Words derived from “suffice”

  • sufficing
  • sufficeth
  • sufficingness
  • sufficer
  • sufficive
  • sufficest
Every word from Proto-Indo-European -tor-s →