Where does “ridicule” come from?
ridicule (French) comes from Latin rīdiculus, from Latin -ulus, from Proto-Italic -olos, from Proto-Italic -elos, from Proto-Indo-European -e-lós, from Proto-Indo-European -lós — Forms agent nouns from verbal roots.
ridicule (French): ridiculous
Definitions
- ridiculous
Ancestry of “ridicule”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Latin | rīdiculus | (good, in the context of humor) laughable, funny, amusing, humorous |
| 2 | Latin | -ulus | Used to form a diminutive of a noun, indicating... |
| 3 | Proto-Italic | -olos | — |
| 4 | Proto-Italic | -elos | Forms desubstantival and deadjectival diminutive nouns |
| 5 | Proto-Indo-European | -e-lós | — |
| 6 | Proto-Indo-European | -lós | Forms agent nouns from verbal roots |