Etymology Explorer › French

Where does “puer” come from?

puer (French) comes from Old French puir, from Vulgar Latin putire, from Latin pūteō, from Proto-Italic pūtos, from Proto-Indo-European puHtós, from Proto-Indo-European pewH- — to be clean, pure.

puer (French): to stink, to smell

Definitions

  1. to stink, to smell

Ancestry of “puer”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Old Frenchpuirto smell ; to stink
2Vulgar Latinputirepresent active infinitive of *putiō
3Latinpūteō—
4Proto-Italicpūtos—
5Proto-Indo-EuropeanpuHtóspure, clean
6Proto-Indo-EuropeanpewH-to be clean, pure

Words derived from “puer”

  • puer
  • pua
  • bête-puante
  • puant
  • empuantir
Every word from Proto-Indo-European pewH- →