Etymology

profligate

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Today it means: Inclined to waste resources or behave extravagantly. Full definition →

Latin prōflīgātus
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The story

  1. Latin · borrowed fromprōflīgātus
  2. English todayprofligate

The adjective is first attested in 1535, the verb in 1542; borrowed from Latin prōflīgātus, perfect passive participle of prōflīgō (“to strike down, cast down”) (see -ate (etymology 1, 2 an 3) and pro-), from prō- (“forward”) + flīgō (“to strike, dash”) + -ō (1st conjugation compound verb-forming suffix). Common participial usage of the adjective up until Early Modern English.

Words from the same roots

Latinprōflīgātus all →

profligacy

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.