Where does “aborigines” come from?
aborigines (Latin) comes from Latin orīgō, from Latin -igo, from Proto-Italic agō, from Proto-Indo-European h₂éǵeti, from Proto-Indo-European h₂eǵ- — to drive.
Ancestry of “aborigines”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | Latin | orīgō | — |
| 2 | Latin | -igo | Enlargement of -ō; Suffixed to nouns and to... |
| 3 | Proto-Italic | agō | drive; push, impel; do, act |
| 4 | Proto-Indo-European | h₂éǵeti | to be driving |
| 5 | Proto-Indo-European | h₂eǵ- | to drive |