Where does “impostor” come from?
impostor (Latin) comes from Late Latin impositor, from Latin impono, from Latin im-, from Latin īn-, from Latin în, from Latin en, from Proto-Italic en, from Proto-Indo-European h₁én — in.
Ancestry of “impostor”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | Late Latin | impositor | — |
| 2 | Latin | impono | I place on or upon, set upon, lay upon; I impose... |
| 3 | Latin | im- | Alternative form of in-; form of "in"; in |
| 4 | Latin | īn- | — |
| 5 | Latin | în | — |
| 6 | Latin | en | lookǃ beholdǃ; reallyǃ?; come onǃ |
| 7 | Proto-Italic | en | in |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | h₁én | in |