Etymology

prerhotic

P3R1E1R1H4O1T1I1C3

Today it means: Occurring before the letter ⟨r⟩ or before any one of the sounds that letter tends to represent (e.g., [r], [ɽ], [ɹ], [ɻ], [ʀ], [ʁ], etc.). Full definition →

English rhotic ← Middle English pre- ← Latin prae-
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The story

  1. Proto-Indo-European*per-
  2. Proto-Indo-European*preh₂-
  3. Proto-Indo-European*préh₂i?
  4. Proto-Italic*prai
  5. Proto-Italic*prai-
  6. Latinprae-
  7. Middle Englishpre-
  8. Englishpre-
  9. Englishrhotacismbf.
  10. Englishrhotic
  11. English todayprerhotic

From pre- + rhotic.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.