Etymology Explorer › French

Where does “surprise” come from?

surprise (French) comes from French surpris, from French surprendre, from Middle French surprendre, from Old French sorprendre, from Old French sur-, from Latin super-, from Latin super, from Latin eks-uper.

surprise (French): feminine singular of the past participle of...

Definitions

  1. feminine singular of the past participle of...

Ancestry of “surprise”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Frenchsurprissurprised; past participle of surprendre;...
2Frenchsurprendreto surprise; to catch out
3Middle Frenchsurprendreto surprise; to take over; to seize
4Old Frenchsorprendreto surprise; to seize; to take control of; to...
5Old Frenchsur-over, on top of
6Latinsuper-super-; over, above
7Latinsuper"accusative" above, on the top of, upon;...
8Latineks-uper—
9Proto-Indo-Europeanupérialternative reconstruction of *upér
10Proto-Indo-Europeanupérabove; over
11Proto-Indo-Europeanupóunder, below
12Proto-Indo-Europeanh₃ewp-—

Words derived from “surprise”

  • suppli
  • supplì
  • sorpresa
  • supplì
  • сюрприз
  • surprise
  • sorpresa
  • sürpriz
  • surpriză
Every word from Proto-Indo-European h₃ewp- →