Where does “terse” come from?
terse (Italian) comes from Italian terso, from Latin tersus, from Latin tergo, from Proto-Indo-European terh₁- — to rub, turn; to drill, pierce.
terse (Italian): third-person singular past historic of tergere;...
Definitions
- third-person singular past historic of tergere;...
Ancestry of “terse”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | Italian | terso | past participle of tergere; clear; taut |
| 2 | Latin | tersus | clean, neat, rubbed or wiped , cleansed, having... |
| 3 | Latin | tergo | Alternative form of tergeō; ablative singular of... |
| 4 | Proto-Indo-European | terh₁- | to rub, turn; to drill, pierce |