Where does “urbane” come from?
Urbane derives from Middle French urbain, from Latin urbanus meaning "of the city," ultimately from Proto-Indo-European wer- with the suffix -ós.
urbane (English): Courteous, polite, refined, and suave
Definitions
- Courteous, polite, refined, and suave
Ancestry of “urbane”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | Urban | An early Christian, also Urbane and Urbanus in various versions of the Bible |
| 2 | Middle French | urbain | urban, belonging to a city; also: polite,... |
| 3 | Latin | Urbānus | of or belonging to a city; urban |
| 4 | Latin | urbs | a city, walled town; the City, Rome |
| 5 | Proto-Italic | worβis | city |
| 6 | Proto-Indo-European | werbʰ- | to enclose |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | werb- | to throw, twist, bend; to turn, bend, twist; to... |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | wer- | to burn; to cover, heed, notice; squirrel |