Where does “pontife” come from?
pontife (Middle French) comes from Latin pontifex, from Latin pōns, from Latin fractus, from Latin frangere, from Latin frangō, from Proto-Indo-European bʰrēǵ- — to shine, shimmer.
Ancestry of “pontife”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | Latin | pontifex | a high priest, State minister in ancient Rome; a... |
| 2 | Latin | pōns | — |
| 3 | Latin | fractus | broken, shattered, having been broken;... |
| 4 | Latin | frangere | second-person singular future passive indicative... |
| 5 | Latin | frangō | — |
| 6 | Proto-Indo-European | bʰrēǵ- | to shine, shimmer |
Words derived from “pontife”