Etymology

inactivate

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Today it means: To make inactive. Full definition →

English inactive ← French inactif ← Latin ināctīvu
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The story

  1. Proto-Indo-European*né
  2. Proto-Indo-European*n̥-
  3. Proto-Italic*n̥-
  4. Latinin-
  5. Proto-Indo-European*h₂eǵ-
  6. Proto-Indo-European*h₂éǵeti
  7. Proto-Italic*agō
  8. Latinagō
  9. Ancient Greekἐνεργητικός (energētikós)
  10. Latināctīvus
  11. Latinināctīvu
  12. Frenchinactif
  13. Englishinactive
  14. English todayinactivate

From inactive + -ate (verb-forming suffix) or in- + activate.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.