English
assertive
Assertive comes from Medieval Latin assertīvus, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *ser-.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ser-root as named
- Medieval Latinc. 600–1500assertīvus
- Englishearliest quotation 1961assertive
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ser-root as named
- Medieval Latinc. 600–1500assertīvus
- Englishearliest quotation 1961assertive
Earliest quotation: 1961, Harry E. Wedeck, Dictionary of Aphrodisiacs: “Hence the ubiquity of Priapus himself as a sculptural…”
Formed from assert + -ive
Latin asserō ‘declare someone free or a slave by laying…’
Latin assertus ‘declared free, set free, liberated, having…’
English assert
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *ser-
service, series, sort, stream, hero, serve, conservative, desert, reservoir, insert, sermon, heresy, conservatism, concierge, sorcery, sorcerer, exert, observant, servitude, sark, heretic, conservator, strudel, servile, serf, sere, 35 more
Today it means
adj Boldly self-assured; confident without being aggressive.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *ser- / assertive