Where does “vilify” come from?
Vilify comes from Late Latin vilificare, from Latin vilifico, from Latin vilis meaning cheap or worthless, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European wes-li-s.
vilify (English): To say defamatory things about someone or...
Definitions
- To say defamatory things about someone or...
Ancestry of “vilify”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Late Latin | vilificare | present active infinitive of vīlificō;... |
| 2 | Latin | vilifico | I make of little value |
| 3 | Latin | vīlis | cheap, inexpensive |
| 4 | Proto-Italic | weslis | — |
| 5 | Proto-Indo-European | wes-li-s | — |