Etymology Explorer › Swedish

Where does “Person” come from?

Person (Swedish) comes from Swedish per, from Latin Petrus, from Indonesian penembak, from Indonesian tembak, from Malay tembak, from Malay timbak, from Proto-Malayic timbak, from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian ti(m)bak.

Ancestry of “Person”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1SwedishperFor each; for every
2LatinPetrusPeter
3Indonesianpenembak—
4Indonesiantembak—
5Malaytembakto shoot
6MalaytimbakObsolete form of tembak
7Proto-Malayictimbak—
8Proto-Malayo-Polynesianti(m)bak—
Every word from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian ti(m)bak →