The story
- Latin · borrowed fromfōmes“fomite”
- English todayfomes
From medical Latin fōmes (“fomite”), a figurative extension of its original sense of kindling, tinder, etc. Gradually supplanted in use by fomite, a mistaken backformation of its plural form fomites, from Latin fōmitēs.
Words from the same roots
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.