Etymology

fanatic

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Today it means: Fanatical. Full definition →

French fanatiqueinflu. ← Latin fānāticu ← Proto-Italic *faznom
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The story

  1. Proto-Indo-European*dʰeh₁-
  2. Proto-Indo-European*dʰéh₁s
  3. Proto-Italic*faznom
  4. Latinfānum
  5. Latinfānāticu
  6. Frenchfanatiqueinflu.
  7. English todayfanatic

First attested in 1525. Learned borrowing from Latin fānāticus (“of a temple, divinely inspired, frenzied”), from fānum (“temple”). Influenced by French fanatique.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.