Where does “nostalgia” come from?

nostalgia (New Latin) comes from Ancient Greek νόστος, from Ancient Greek -τος, from Proto-Indo-European -tós — Creates verbal adjectives from verb stems.

Ancestry of “nostalgia”, step by step

nostalgia traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.

via Ancient Greek νόστος

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Ancient Greekνόστοςthe act of reaching a place: journey, arrival;...
2Ancient Greek-τοςCreates perfective passive verbal adjectives;...
3Proto-Indo-European-tósCreates verbal adjectives from verb stems

via Ancient Greek ἄλγος

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Ancient Greekἄλγοςpain (of either mind or body), sorrow, trouble, grief, distress, woe
2Ancient GreekἀλέγωI heed, trouble myself

Words derived from “nostalgia

Every word from Proto-Indo-European -tósEvery word from Ancient Greek -τοςEvery word from Ancient Greek νόστος