English
detritivore
Detritivore comes from Latin dētrītus ‘the act of rubbing away’, and goes back to terō ‘to rub’.
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEterō‘to rub’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEdēterō‘to rub away, to rub off, to wear out’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEdētrītus‘the act of rubbing away’
- Germanc. 1650–presentDetritivore
- Englishearliest quotation 1978detritivore
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEterō‘to rub’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEdēterō‘to rub away, to rub off, to wear out’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEdētrītus‘the act of rubbing away’
- Germanc. 1650–presentDetritivore
- Englishearliest quotation 1978detritivore
Earliest quotation: 1978, J. P. La Fage, Nutrient Dynamics of Termites: “Termites are herbivores and detritivores variously involved in the…”
A compound of *terh₁- ‘to rub, to rub by twisting’ + vorāre
Proto-Indo-European *gʷerh₃- ‘to devour’
Proto-Indo-European *gʷorh₃éh₂
Proto-Italic *worā
Latin vorō ‘to devour’
Linked words
through Latin terō ‘to rub’
detriment, attrition, tribulation, trite, 8 more
through Latin dēterō ‘to rub away, to rub off, to wear out’
Today it means
noun An organism that feeds on detritus.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Latin terō / detritivore