Where does “mergullar” come from?
mergullar (Old Portuguese) comes from Vulgar Latin merguliare, from Latin mergulus, from Latin -ulus, from Proto-Italic -olos, from Proto-Italic -elos, from Proto-Indo-European -e-lós, from Proto-Indo-European -lós — Forms agent nouns from verbal roots.
Ancestry of “mergullar”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Vulgar Latin | merguliare | — |
| 2 | Latin | mergulus | wick of a lamp; small diver, loon |
| 3 | Latin | -ulus | Used to form a diminutive of a noun, indicating... |
| 4 | Proto-Italic | -olos | — |
| 5 | Proto-Italic | -elos | Forms desubstantival and deadjectival diminutive nouns |
| 6 | Proto-Indo-European | -e-lós | — |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | -lós | Forms agent nouns from verbal roots |