Etymology

pessimize

pes·sim·ize
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Today it means: To take a pessimistic view of; to speak of in a negative or pessimistic way. Full definition →

Latin pessimus ← Proto-Indo-European *ped-tm̥mó-s
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The story

  1. Proto-Indo-European · derived from*ped-tm̥mó-s
  2. Latin · derived frompessimus“worst”
  3. English todaypessimize

From Latin pessimus (“worst”) + -ize, modelled after optimize. Pessimus is derived from Proto-Indo-European *ped-tm̥mó-s, from *ped- (“to step, walk; to fall, stumble”) + *-tm̥mó-s (superlative suffix).

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.