Etymology Explorer › Middle English

Where does “govenour” come from?

govenour (Middle English) comes from Old French gouvreneur, from Latin gubernātor, from Ancient Greek κυβερνήτης, from Ancient Greek -τής, from Ancient Greek πεῖρα, from Proto-Indo-European per-, from Proto-Indo-European pr̥tós — passed , crossed.

Ancestry of “govenour”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Old Frenchgouvreneurgovernor; steersman
2Latingubernātor—
3Ancient Greekκυβερνήτηςcaptain, steersman, pilot, navigator; guide,...
4Ancient Greek-τήςAppended to verbs to form agent nouns
5Ancient Greekπεῖραtrial, experiment, attempt
6Proto-Indo-Europeanper-before, in front; first; to go through
7Proto-Indo-Europeanpr̥tóspassed , crossed
Every word from Proto-Indo-European pr̥tós →