Where does “unsavory” come from?
I need to work through this etymology chain carefully.
Looking at the chain provided:
- English savory | Latin unus | Proto-Indo-European óynos | Proto-Indo-European óynos | Proto-Indo-European ano- | Proto-Indo-European ano- | Latin -or | Latin -or
This chain appears problematic—it doesn't clearly connect to form "unsavory." The chain seems to show "unus" (Latin for "one") and various forms, but "savory" should derive from "savor" (taste/flavor), not from "one."
However, following the instruction to "state only what the chain supports" and not invent steps, I cannot construct an accurate etymology sentence from this chain because it doesn't actually support a coherent path to "unsavory."
If I must attempt a sentence based strictly on what's given (even though it appears malformed), I cannot do so
unsavory (English): Not savory; without flavor; Of bad taste;...
Definitions
- Not savory; without flavor; Of bad taste;...
Ancestry of “unsavory”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | English | savory | Tasty, attractive to the palate; Salty and/or... |
| 2 | Middle English | savory | — |
| 3 | Middle English | savourie | — |
| 4 | Old French | savouré | — |
| 5 | Old French | savourer | to give taste |
| 6 | Late Latin | saporare | — |
| 7 | Latin | sapōrō | — |
| 8 | Latin | sapor | A taste, flavor, savor; A sense of taste; A... |
| 9 | Latin | -or | used to form a third-declension masculine... |
| 10 | Proto-Italic | -ōs | Creates masculine action nouns or result nouns... |
| 11 | Proto-Indo-European | -ōs | Creates masculine and feminine action nouns or... |
| 12 | Proto-Indo-European | -oss | — |
| 13 | Proto-Indo-European | -os | Creates action nouns or result nouns from verbs;... |
Words derived from “unsavory”