Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “warlord” come from?

I need to flag a critical problem with this chain: it's incoherent and appears corrupted. The links don't follow phonetically or semantically: - "war" doesn't derive from "werre" (they're the same root) - "werre" to "guerrer" reverses direction - "guerrer" to "Old English hlāf" (loaf/bread) makes no sense - "hlāf" to "wardō" is phonetically implausible - "wardō" to Latin "-izo" (a suffix) breaks the chain - Latin "-izo" appears twice - Proto-Indo-European "wer-" doesn't connect to any of these I cannot write an accurate etymology sentence from this chain because the chain itself is not etymologically valid. To proceed, I would need: 1. Clarification of what word this actually traces (is it

warlord (English): A high military officer in a warlike nation; A...

Definitions

  1. A high military officer in a warlike nation; A...

Ancestry of “warlord”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1EnglishLord"An interjection variously expressing...
2Middle Englishlordlord; Lord
3Old Englishhlāfordlord
4Old Englishhlāfweardlord, master, husband
5Old Englishweardguard; guard, the action of looking out for...
6Old Englishōraore, unwrought metal
7Old Englishēarsea, ocean; grave, earth
8Proto-Germanicahazear
9Proto-Finnicahtasnarrow, cramped
10Proto-Balticanśtas—
11Proto-Indo-Europeanh₂énǵʰusnarrow, tight
12Proto-Indo-Europeanh₂enǵʰ-to constrict, tighten, compress; narrow, tight;...

Words derived from “warlord”

  • warlordism
Every word from Proto-Indo-European h₂enǵʰ- →