affront

The story

1. Latin · derived fromad“to”
2. Vulgar Latin · derived from*affrontare“to hit in the face”
3. Old French · derived fromafronter“to hit in the face; to defy”
4. Middle English · inherited fromafrounten
5. English todayaffront

From Middle English afrounten, from Old French afronter (“to hit in the face; to defy”), from Vulgar Latin *affrontare (“to hit in the face”), from Latin ad (“to”) + frōns (“forehead”) (English front). By surface analysis, af- + front.

Words from the same roots