Etymology

explosive

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Today it means: Able to, or likely to, explode. Full definition →

Latin explōs- ← Proto-Indo-European *pleh₂-u-d- ← Proto-Italic *eks
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The story

  1. Proto-Indo-European*h₁éǵʰ
  2. Proto-Indo-European*h₁éǵʰs
  3. Proto-Italic*eks
  4. Latinex
  5. Latinex-
  6. Proto-Indo-European*pleth₂-?
  7. Proto-Indo-European*pel-?
  8. Proto-Indo-European*pleh₂-
  9. Proto-Indo-European*pleh₂-u-h₂-
  10. Proto-Indo-European*pleh₂-u-d-
  11. Latinplaudō
  12. Latinexplodō
  13. Latinexplōs-
  14. English todayexplosive

From Latin explōs-, stem of the perfect passive participle of explōdō + the suffix -ive.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.