Where does “чародей” come from?
чародей (Russian) comes from Old East Slavic чародѣи, from Proto-Slavic čarodějь, from Proto-Slavic dějati, from Proto-Slavic děti, from Proto-Balto-Slavic dḗˀtei, from Proto-Indo-European dʰeh₁- — to do, put, place.
Ancestry of “чародей”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | Old East Slavic | чародѣи | — |
| 2 | Proto-Slavic | čarodějь | — |
| 3 | Proto-Slavic | dějati | to do |
| 4 | Proto-Slavic | děti | to do; to put, to place; to thread, to pass... |
| 5 | Proto-Balto-Slavic | dḗˀtei | to put, to place; to do |
| 6 | Proto-Indo-European | dʰeh₁- | to do, put, place |