Where does “expletivo” come from?

expletivo (Portuguese) comes from Late Latin expletivus, from Latin explētus, from Latin expleō, from Latin pleō, from Proto-Italic plēō, from Proto-Indo-European pleh₁- — to fill.

expletivo (Portuguese): expletive performing a syntactic role but contributing nothing to meaning

Definitions

  1. expletive performing a syntactic role but contributing nothing to meaning

Ancestry of “expletivo”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Late Latinexpletivusserving to fill out
2Latinexplētusfilled up, completed
3Latinexpleōto fill up, occupy completely
4LatinpleōCombining form used to form prefixed verbs with the approximate meaning "to fill"
5Proto-Italicplēōto fill
6Proto-Indo-Europeanpleh₁-to fill
Every word from Proto-Indo-European pleh₁- →Every word from Proto-Italic plēō →Every word from Latin pleō →