Etymology

brutal

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Today it means: Savagely violent, vicious, ruthless, or cruel, often in an unintelligent manner. Full definition →

Medieval Latin brūtālis ← Proto-Indo-European *h₂élisder.? ← Latin brūtus
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The story

  1. Proto-Indo-European*gʷreh₂-
  2. Proto-Indo-European*gʷréh₂usder.?
  3. Proto-Italic*gʷrūtos
  4. Latinbrūtus
  5. Proto-Indo-European*h₂el-
  6. Proto-Indo-European*h₂élisder.?
  7. Medieval Latinbrūtālis
  8. English todaybrutal

From Medieval Latin brūtālis (“savage, stupid”), from Latin brūtus (“dull, stupid”), equivalent to brute + -al.

Words from the same roots

Latinbrūtus all →

brutebrutBrutus

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.