English
dentist
Dentist comes from French dent ‘tooth’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *h₃dénts.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₃déntsreconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEdentem
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400dent
- Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600dent‘tooth’
- Frenchc. 1600–presentdent‘tooth’
- French, derivedc. 1600–presentdentiste
- Englishearliest quotation 1834dentist
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₃déntsreconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEdentem
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400dent
- Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600dent‘tooth’
- Frenchc. 1600–presentdent‘tooth’
- French, derivedc. 1600–presentdentiste
- Englishearliest quotation 1834dentist
Earliest quotation: 1834, Letitia Elizabeth Landon, London: Richard Bentley: “It is singular how forcibly this passage in my…”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *h₃dénts
Today it means
noun A medical doctor who specializes in teeth.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *h₃dénts / dentist