Where does “Rechtsextremist” come from?

Rechtsextremist (German) comes from German rechts, from German recht, from Middle High German reht, from Old High German reht, from Proto-West Germanic reht, from Proto-Germanic rehtaz, from Proto-Indo-European h₃reǵtós, from Proto-Indo-European h₃reǵ- — to straighten, to right oneself; right; just.

Rechtsextremist (German): right-wing extremist

Definitions

  1. right-wing extremist

Ancestry of “Rechtsextremist”, step by step

Rechtsextremist traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.

via German rechts

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Germanrechtson the right; to the right; the right-hand side
2Germanrechtright; proper, correct; true, real
3Middle High Germanreht
4Old High Germanrehtright
5Proto-West Germanicrehtstraight; right, correct; morally upright, just
6Proto-Germanicrehtazright, straight; morally upright, just
7Proto-Indo-Europeanh₃reǵtósstraightened, right, upright
8Proto-Indo-Europeanh₃reǵ-to straighten, to right oneself; right; just

via German Extremist

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1GermanExtremistextremist male or of unspecified gender
2German-ist-ist; Also see
3Latin-ista-ist; one who practises or believes
4Ancient Greek-ιστήςAlternative form of -τής; -ist
5Ancient Greek-τήςAppended to verbs to form agent nouns
6Proto-Hellenic-tās
Every word from Proto-Indo-European h₃reǵ-