Etymology

altruistic

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Today it means: Regardful of others; beneficent; unselfish Full definition →

English altruist ← French altruisme ← Old French autrui
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The story

  1. Proto-Indo-European*h₂el-
  2. Proto-Indo-European*h₂élyos
  3. Proto-Italic*aljos
  4. Proto-Italic*aliteros
  5. Latinalterī
  6. Vulgar Latin*alterui
  7. Old Frenchautrui
  8. Frenchautrui
  9. Frenchaltruisme
  10. Englishaltruism
  11. Englishaltruist
  12. English todayaltruistic

From altruist + -ic. See altruism.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.