defalcate

The story

1. Latin · derived fromdē“off”
2. Medieval Latin · borrowed fromdēfalcātus
3. English todaydefalcate

First attested in the 1530s, in the sense “to lop off”; borrowed from Medieval Latin dēfalcātus, perfect passive participle of dēfalcō (“to cut or lop off”) (see -ate (verb-forming suffix)), from Latin dē (“off”) + falx (“sickle, scythe, pruning hook”) + -ō (verb-forming suffix).

Words from the same roots