Etymology Explorer › Middle English

Where does “encouragen” come from?

encouragen (Middle English) comes from Anglo-Norman encoragier, from Old French encoragier, from Old French en-, from Latin īn-, from Latin în, from Latin en, from Proto-Italic en, from Proto-Indo-European h₁én — in.

Ancestry of “encouragen”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Anglo-Normanencoragierto encourage
2Old Frenchencoragierto encourage
3Old Frenchen-en-
4Latinīn-—
5Latinîn—
6Latinenlookǃ beholdǃ; reallyǃ?; come onǃ
7Proto-Italicenin
8Proto-Indo-Europeanh₁énin

Words derived from “encouragen”

  • encourage
  • encouraging
  • encouragingly
  • encourager
  • encourageth
  • unencouraging
  • unencouragingly
  • reencourage
  • encouragest
  • encourageable
  • overencourage
  • encouragingness
Every word from Proto-Indo-European h₁én →