Where does “Peter” come from?
Peter (Italian) comes from English Peter, from Middle English Peter, from Latin Petrus, from Indonesian penembak, from Indonesian tembak, from Malay tembak, from Malay timbak, from Proto-Malayic timbak.
Ancestry of “Peter”, step by step
Peter traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via English Peter
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | Peter | radiotelephony clear-code word for the letter P |
| 2 | Middle English | Peter | Peter |
| 3 | Latin | Petrus | Peter |
| 4 | Indonesian | penembak | shooter |
| 5 | Indonesian | tembak | to shoot to fire a shot |
| 6 | Malay | tembak | to shoot |
| 7 | Malay | timbak | Obsolete form of tembak |
| 8 | Proto-Malayic | timbak | — |
| 9 | Proto-Malayo-Polynesian | ti(m)bak | — |
via German Peter
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | German | Peter | A common surname |