Where does “Elite” come from?
Elite (German) comes from French élite, from French élit, from Old French eslit, from Old French elire, from Latin eligere, from Latin eligo, from Latin e-, from Latin ex- — whale, sea monster; abyss.
Elite (German): elite
Definitions
- elite
Ancestry of “Elite”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | French | élite | elite |
| 2 | French | élit | third-person singular present indicative of... |
| 3 | Old French | eslit | chosen, elected |
| 4 | Old French | elire | — |
| 5 | Latin | eligere | second-person singular future passive indicative... |
| 6 | Latin | eligo | I choose, I pluck or root out, extract; I pick... |
| 7 | Latin | e- | Alternative form of ex-; out of; out, utterly |
| 8 | Latin | ex- | out, away; throughout; thoroughly |
| 9 | Latin | e | The name of the letter "E"; out of, from |
| 10 | Latin | ex | A name of the letter "X"; out of, from |
| 11 | Latin | commūnicō | to impart, share |
| 12 | Latin | commūnis | common, commonplace, ordinary, general, universal, shared, shared alike, of both sides, belonging to two or more together |
| 13 | Old Latin | com(m)oinis | — |
| 14 | Proto-Italic | kommoinis | common |
| 15 | Proto-Indo-European | ḱom-moy-ni- | held in common |
| 16 | Proto-Indo-European | ḱóm | beside, near, by, with |
| 17 | Proto-Indo-European | ḱe | Deictic particle, here; Post-positional... |
| 18 | Middle English | kyt | — |
| 19 | Russian | кит | whale; genitive plural of ки́та |
| 20 | Old Church Slavonic | китъ | whale |
| 21 | Ancient Greek | κῆτος | whale, sea monster; abyss |