English
herbivore
Herbivore comes from French herbivore ‘herbivorous’, and goes back to Latin herba ‘plant’.
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEherba‘plant’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEherbivorus‘herbivorous, plant-eating’
- Frenchc. 1600–presentherbivore‘herbivorous’
- Englishearliest quotation 2011herbivore
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
Earlier history uncertain.
Lineage
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEherba‘plant’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEherbivorus‘herbivorous, plant-eating’
- Frenchc. 1600–presentherbivore‘herbivorous’
- Englishearliest quotation 2011herbivore
Earliest quotation: 2011, Bernard Wood: “It is unlikely that any member of the hominin…”
Equivalent to herb ‘herbage’ + -i- + -vore
Latin herba ‘grass, herbage’
Old French erbe ‘grass’
Middle English herbe ‘a herbaceous plant’
English herb
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *gʰreh₁- ‘to grow (of plants?)’
green, grow, grass, groom, gourmet, graze, greedily, ambergris, yerba, 17 more
through Latin herba ‘plant’
Today it means
noun An organism that feeds chiefly on plants; an animal that feeds on herbage or vegetation as the main part of its diet.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Latin herba / herbivore