The story
- Latin · derived frompeior“worse”
- English todaypejorative
From Late Latin peiōrātus (“worsened”, past participle of peiōrāre (“worsen”), from Latin peior (“worse”)) + -ive. Compare French péjoratif (“depreciative, disparaging”). By surface analysis, pejorate + -ive.
Words from the same roots
Latinpeior all →
pejorist
First known use, by meaning
- from 1882 Disparaging, belittling or derogatory.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.