Etymology Explorer › Middle English

Where does “sceptre” come from?

sceptre (Middle English) comes from Old French sceptre, from Latin scēptrum, from Ancient Greek σκῆπτρον, from Ancient Greek -τρον, from Proto-Hellenic -tron, from Proto-Indo-European -trom, from Proto-Indo-European -tḗr — Derives agent nouns from verbs, denoting someone...

Ancestry of “sceptre”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Old Frenchsceptre—
2Latinscēptrum—
3Ancient Greekσκῆπτρονa staff, stick to lean on, used by lame or aged...
4Ancient Greek-τρονForms instrument nouns
5Proto-Hellenic-tronForms instrument nouns from verb stems
6Proto-Indo-European-tromForms nouns denoting a tool or instrument
7Proto-Indo-European-tḗrDerives agent nouns from verbs, denoting someone...

Words derived from “sceptre”

  • sceptre
  • sceptral
  • sceptreless
  • sceptredom
  • unsceptre
Every word from Proto-Indo-European -tḗr →