Where does “race” come from?
race (Middle French) comes from Italian razza, from Italian razzo, from Italian raggio, from Latin radius, from English -án, from Middle English -an.
race (Middle French): race; breed
Ancestry of “race”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | Italian | razza | race, breed; kind, type; family, descent |
| 2 | Italian | razzo | skyrocket; Ellipsis of razzo di segnalazione;... |
| 3 | Italian | raggio | ray, beam, shaft; spoke; radius |
| 4 | Latin | radius | ray; staff, rod; spoke |
| 5 | English | -án | — |
| 6 | Middle English | -an | — |