nutate

The story

1. Proto-Indo-European · derived from*neu-
2. Latin · derived fromnūtātiō“a nodding”
3. English todaynutate

First attested in 1880; back-formation from nutation (1610s) on the basis of -ate (verb-forming suffix), from Latin nūtātiō (“a nodding”), from nūtō (“to nod”), from Proto-Indo-European *neu-. Compare mutate.

Words from the same roots