Where does “plaintive” come from?
plaintive (French) comes from French plaintif, from French plainte, from Old French plainte, from Latin plancta, from Latin planctus, from Latin -tus, from Proto-Italic -tus, from Proto-Indo-European -tus — Derives action nouns from verb roots.
plaintive (French): feminine singular of plaintif
Definitions
- feminine singular of plaintif
Ancestry of “plaintive”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | French | plaintif | plaintive, doleful |
| 2 | French | plainte | complaint; moan, groan |
| 3 | Old French | plainte | lament, complaint |
| 4 | Latin | plancta | nominative feminine singular of plānctus;... |
| 5 | Latin | planctus | struck, beaten; bewailed, lamented, mourned;... |
| 6 | Latin | -tus | Forms the past participle of verbs; Forms... |
| 7 | Proto-Italic | -tus | — |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | -tus | Derives action nouns from verb roots |