English
foundress
Foundress comes from Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰewd- ‘to pour’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ǵʰewd-‘to pour’root as named · steps between not traced
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500founderess
- Englishearliest quotation 1569foundress
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ǵʰewd-‘to pour’root as named · steps between not traced
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500founderess
- Englishearliest quotation 1569foundress
Earliest quotation: 1569, Richard Grafton, Henry the Seuenth: “But whether he departed without the French kings conſent…”
Formed from founder + -ess
Proto-Indo-European *bʰudʰmḗn ‘bottom’
…
Latin fundō ‘to found, establish’
Latin fundātor ‘founder’
Old French fondeur ‘founder’
Middle English foundour ‘founder’
English founder
The story
Foundour is derived from Anglo-Norman fundur, Old French fondeor, fondeur (‘creator, instigator, founder’) (modern French fondeur), from Latin fundātor (‘founder’) (rare), from fundō (‘to make by smelting, found’) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰewd- (‘to pour’)) + -tor (suffix forming masculine agent nouns). The English word is analysable as founder + -ess (suffix forming female forms of words).
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰewd- ‘to pour’
yet, refuse, confusion, fusion, gut, confuse, fuse, font, refund, funnel, effusive, fondue, confound, 48 more
Today it means
noun A female founder (“one who founds or establishes”).
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰewd- / foundress