assault

The story

1. Latin · derived fromad“at, towards”
2. Late Latin · derived fromassalīre
3. Middle English · inherited fromassaut
4. English todayassault

From Middle English assaut, from Old French noun assaut, derived from the past participle of the verb assalir, from Late Latin assalīre, from Latin ad (“at, towards”) + salīre (“jump”). See also assail. Spelling Latinized around 1530 to add an l.

Words from the same roots