Etymology Explorer › Spanish

Where does “usted” come from?

usted (Spanish) comes from Spanish vuestra merced, from Spanish vuestra, from Spanish vuestro, from Latin vostrum, from Latin vester, from Proto-Italic westeros, from Proto-Indo-European -teros — Contrastive or oppositional adjectival suffix.

usted (Spanish): you

Definitions

  1. you

Ancestry of “usted”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Spanishvuestra mercedyour grace; your mercy; you
2Spanishvuestrafeminine singular of vuestro; your
3SpanishvuestroYours; Yours, your, to you
4LatinvostrumAlternative spelling of vestrum; nominative...
5Latinvesteryour, yours, of you
6Proto-Italicwesterosyour
7Proto-Indo-European-terosContrastive or oppositional adjectival suffix

Words derived from “usted”

  • ustedes
  • Ud.
  • utere
Every word from Proto-Indo-European -teros →