πρεσβύτεροςpresbyteros
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Root
-pfuura
to pass, to pass by, to go before, to surpass, to exceed
Greek presbuteros descends from Shona pfuura, to pass before and exceed
- Confidence
- 61/100
- Root language
- Shona
- Descent begins
- πρεσβύτεροςAncient Greek
The consensus position
Mainstream comparative linguistics derives πρεσβύτερος as the comparative of πρέσβυς "old man, elder", itself a pre-Homeric compound of *pres- (a locatival form of PIE *per- "before, forward") with a disputed second element usually taken as a root meaning "go". There is no accepted relationship to Shona or any Bantu language, and the resemblance of Shona mupristi is a modern borrowing from English "priest".
The working behind this.
The full descent — 6 links from the attested form down to the root — the segment-by-segment correspondences, the phonological breakdown and the case for the derivation are behind an account.
An account opens 10 entries in full, free.
Elsewhere in the corpus
- Pelagiaparato spread out, to lay out flat, to clear a surface level
- Kérberoskerekato be smeared, streaked, marked with dirt; causative kerekedza, to streak or daub
- ἀποκτείνω-tekanato be cut off, be broken off, be severed, to snap
- μάχαιραmhakamatter, case, dispute, cause of quarrel; fault, blame, the grounds on which one is answerable
- βλασφημία-bvato come out, to issue forth; in the derived bvuma, to give voice, to assent
- Theosmutsakindness, favour, mercy