The story
- Proto-Indo-European*upó
- Proto-Italic*supo
- Latinsub
- Latinsub-
- Englishsub-
- Ancient Greekχαράσσω (kharássō)
- Ancient Greekχαρακτήρ (kharaktḗr)
- Ancient Greekχᾰρακτηρίζω (khăraktērízō)
- Medieval Latincharactērizō
- Englishcharacterize
- English todaysubcharacterize
From sub- + characterize.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.