Where does “vitamin” come from?
Vitamin derives from English vital combined with English amine, which comes from English ammonia, from Latin sal ammoniacus, ultimately tracing to Proto-Indo-European roots meaning life and animate beings.
vitamin (English): Any of a specific group of organic compounds...
Definitions
- Any of a specific group of organic compounds...
Ancestry of “vitamin”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | vitamine | Obsolete form of vitamin |
| 2 | English | amine | A functional group formally derived from ammonia... |
| 3 | English | -ine | Of or pertaining to; Used to form demonyms;... |
| 4 | French | -ine | feminine singular of -in; female equivalent of... |
| 5 | French | -é | past participle root verb suffix of regular -er... |
| 6 | Middle French | -é | past participle root verb suffix of regular; -ed, -en, -n |
| 7 | Old French | -é | used to form past participles of regular -er... |
| 8 | Latin | -a | suffixed to the roots of verbs, forms agent... |
| 9 | Proto-Italic | -ā | Forms masculine agent nouns from prefixed or compounded bases |
| 10 | Proto-Indo-European | -éh₂ | — |