Where does “vocalist” come from?

Vocalist comes from English vocal plus the Latin suffix -ista, derived from Ancient Greek -ιστής, itself from the verb -ίζω, ultimately tracing to Proto-Indo-European verbal roots -idyéti and -yéti.

vocalist (English): A singer; a person who likes to sing

Definitions

  1. A singer; a person who likes to sing

Ancestry of “vocalist”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1English-istAdded to words to form nouns denoting
2Old French-iste—
3Latin-ista-ist; one who practises or believes
4Ancient Greek-ιστήςAlternative form of -τής; -ist
5Ancient Greek-τήςAppended to verbs to form agent nouns
6Proto-Hellenic-tās—

Words derived from “vocalist”

Every word from Proto-Hellenic -tās →Every word from English -ist →Every word from Ancient Greek -τής →