purlieu

The story

1. Latin · derived fromprō-
2. Old French · derived fromporale
3. Middle English · inherited frompurlewe“piece of land on the edge of a forest”
4. English todaypurlieu

From Middle English purlewe (“piece of land on the edge of a forest”), modification under the influence of Old French lieu (“place”) of porale, purale (“royal perambulation”), from Old French porale, from poraler (“to traverse”), from por- (“forth”) (from Latin prō-) + aler, aller (“to go”).

Words from the same roots