Where does “serf” come from?
serf (Mauritian Creole) comes from French cerf, from Middle French cerf, from Old French cerf, from Latin cervus, from Latin -a, from Proto-Italic -ā, from Proto-Indo-European -éh₂.
serf (Mauritian Creole): deer
Ancestry of “serf”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | French | cerf | a stag, a hart |
| 2 | Middle French | cerf | — |
| 3 | Old French | cerf | deer |
| 4 | Latin | cervus | deer, stag; forked stakes; cheval de frise |
| 5 | Latin | -a | suffixed to the roots of verbs, forms agent... |
| 6 | Proto-Italic | -ā | — |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | -éh₂ | — |