Etymology

patient

pa·tient
P3A1T1I1E1N1T1

Today it means: Willing to wait if necessary; not losing one's temper while waiting. Full definition →

Middle English pacient ← Middle French patient ← Old French pacient
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The story

  1. Proto-Indo-European · derived from*peh₁-“to hate, hurt”
  2. Latin · derived frompatiens
  3. Old French · derived frompacient
  4. Middle French · derived frompatient
  5. Middle English · inherited frompacient
  6. English todaypatient

From Middle English pacient, from Middle French patient, from Old French pacient, from Latin patiens, present participle of patior (“to suffer, endure”), from Proto-Indo-European *peh₁- (“to hate, hurt”).

Words from the same roots

Proto-Indo-European*peh₁- all →

passionpassivepatiencefiendfendpenuryimpenitentpentimento

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.