Where does “timorous” come from?
Timorous comes from Old French temoros, from Medieval Latin timorosus, from Latin timor meaning fear, combined with the Latin -or suffix and Proto-Indo-European -ōs, -os suffixes forming adjectives.
timorous (English): fearful; afraid; timid
Definitions
- fearful; afraid; timid
Ancestry of “timorous”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Old French | temoros | — |
| 2 | Medieval Latin | timorosus | — |
| 3 | Latin | timor | fear, dread; awe, reverence |
| 4 | Latin | -or | used to form a third-declension masculine... |
| 5 | Proto-Italic | -ōs | Creates masculine action nouns or result nouns... |
| 6 | Proto-Indo-European | -ōs | Creates masculine and feminine action nouns or... |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | -oss | — |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | -os | Creates action nouns or result nouns from verbs;... |