Where does “use” come from?
use (Middle English) comes from Old French us, from Latin ūsus, from Latin ūtor, from Proto-Slavic *ǫtorъ, from Proto-Slavic torъ, from Proto-Slavic terti, from Proto-Indo-European terh₁- — to rub, turn; to drill, pierce.
Ancestry of “use”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | Old French | us | tradition or custom |
| 2 | Latin | ūsus | — |
| 3 | Latin | ūtor | — |
| 4 | Proto-Slavic | *ǫtorъ | — |
| 5 | Proto-Slavic | torъ | — |
| 6 | Proto-Slavic | terti | to rub, to scrape; to polish |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | terh₁- | to rub, turn; to drill, pierce |