Where does “doctor” come from?

doctor (Middle English) comes from Anglo-Norman doctour, from Latin doctor, from Latin -tor, from Proto-Italic -tōr, from Proto-Indo-European -tōr, from Proto-Indo-European -tor-s.

doctor (Middle English): an expert, authority on a subject

Definitions

  1. an expert, authority on a subject

Ancestry of “doctor”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Anglo-NormandoctourAlternative spelling of doctur
2Latindoctorteacher, instructor; catechist
3Latin-tor-er
4Proto-Italic-tōrForms agent nouns to verb stems
5Proto-Indo-European-tōrDerives agent nouns from verbs, denoting someone...
6Proto-Indo-European-tor-s—
Every word from Proto-Indo-European -tor-s →Every word from Latin -tor →Every word from Latin doctor →