Etymology Explorer › French

Where does “néophyte” come from?

néophyte (French) comes from Latin neophytus, from Ancient Greek νεόφυτος, from Ancient Greek νεο-, from Ancient Greek νέος, from Latin fēlēs, from Hungarian fél, from Proto-Uralic pide, from Finnish pitää.

Ancestry of “néophyte”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Latinneophytusnewly-planted; newly-converted to Christianity;...
2Ancient Greekνεόφυτοςnewly planted
3Ancient Greekνεο-new
4Ancient Greekνέοςyoung; youthful; new, fresh
5Latinfēlēs—
6Hungarianfélto fear, to be afraid of something; to fear...
7Proto-Uralicpidetall
8Finnishpitääto hold, grasp, grip; to keep, take; to like, be...
9Proto-Finnicpitädäkto hold, to grasp; to keep
10Proto-Finno-Ugricpitä-—
Every word from Proto-Finno-Ugric pitä- →