Etymology Explorer › French

Where does “précaire” come from?

précaire (French) comes from Latin precārius, from Latin prex, from Proto-Italic preks, from Proto-Indo-European préḱs, from Proto-Indo-European preḱ-, from Proto-Indo-European pr̥ḱneh₂.

précaire (French): precarious

Definitions

  1. precarious

Ancestry of “précaire”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Latinprecārius—
2Latinprexprayer; request; entreaty
3Proto-Italicpreks—
4Proto-Indo-Europeanpréḱs—
5Proto-Indo-Europeanpreḱ-to ask
6Proto-Indo-Europeanpr̥ḱneh₂—

Words derived from “précaire”

  • précariser
  • précarisation
  • précairement
  • prekär
  • prekær
  • prekær
Every word from Proto-Indo-European pr̥ḱneh₂ →