Etymology Explorer › Translingual

Where does “bacillus” come from?

bacillus (Translingual) comes from Latin Bacillus, from Latin -illus, from Latin -lus, from Proto-Italic -elos, from Proto-Indo-European -e-lós, from Proto-Indo-European -lós — Forms agent nouns from verbal roots.

Ancestry of “bacillus”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1LatinBacillus—
2Latin-illusUsed to form adjectives from nouns
3Latin-lusAlternative form of -ulus; diminutive suffix
4Proto-Italic-elos—
5Proto-Indo-European-e-lós—
6Proto-Indo-European-lósForms agent nouns from verbal roots
Every word from Proto-Indo-European -lós →