Etymology

paralyze

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Today it means: To afflict with paralysis. Full definition →

Middle English paralysie ← French paralyser
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The story

  1. French · derived fromparalyser
  2. Middle English · inherited fromparalysie
  3. English todayparalyze

Partly a borrowing from French. Probably partly either (i) formed within English, by derivation. Or partly (ii) a borrowing from French, combined with an English element. Etymons: Middle English paralysie, -ize suffix; French paralyser.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.