Where does “suffocate” come from?
Suffocate comes from Latin suffocare, meaning to choke or stifle, formed from Latin sub meaning under and Latin faux meaning throat or gullet.
suffocate (English): To suffer, or cause someone to suffer, from...
Definitions
- To suffer, or cause someone to suffer, from...
Ancestry of “suffocate”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | Latin | suffocatus | choked, stifled, strangled or suffocated |
| 2 | Latin | suffoco | I choke, stifle, strangle or suffocate |
| 3 | Latin | sub- | sub- |
| 4 | Proto-Indo-European | upó | under, below |
| 5 | Proto-Indo-European | h₃ewp- | — |
Words derived from “suffocate”