condescend

The story

1. Proto-Indo-European · derived from*skend-“to climb, scale; to dart; to jump; etc.”
2. Latin · derived fromcon-
3. Ecclesiastical Latin · derived fromcondēscendere
4. Old French · derived fromcondescendre“to descend, go down; to agree or assent to”
5. Middle English · inherited fromcondescenden
6. English todaycondescend

From Middle English condescenden, condescendre (“to deign, condescend; to accede graciously; to agree; to agree to, give consent; to make a concession, yield; etc.”), from Old French condescendre (“to descend, go down; to agree or assent to”) (modern French condescendre), from Ecclesiastical Latin condēscendere, the present active infinitive of condēscendō (“to stoop down; to condescend”), from Latin con- (prefix denoting a bringing together of several objects) + dēscendō (“to come or go down, descend; to stoop down”) (from dē- (prefix denoting reversal or undoing) + scandō (“to ascend, mount; to clamber”) (from Proto-Indo-European *skend- (“to climb, scale; to dart; to jump; etc.”))).

Words from the same roots