English
hesitative
Hesitative comes from Latin haesitātus ‘hesitated, having been uncertain’, and goes back to haereō ‘to stick, stick fast’.
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEhaereō‘to stick, stick fast’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEhaesitō‘to hesitate’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEhaesitātus‘hesitated, having been uncertain’
- English1500–presenthesitate
- Englishtodayhesitative
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Earlier history uncertain.
Lineage
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEhaereō‘to stick, stick fast’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEhaesitō‘to hesitate’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEhaesitātus‘hesitated, having been uncertain’
- English1500–presenthesitate
- Englishtodayhesitative
A compound of hesitate + -ive
Latin haereō ‘to stick, stick fast’
Latin haesitō ‘to hesitate’
Latin haesitātus ‘hesitated, having been uncertain’
English hesitate
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *gʰays- ‘to adhere, to stick, to be fixed’
through Latin haereō ‘to stick, stick fast’
coherent, adhere, coherence, cohesion, adhesion, adhesive, coherency, 25 more
through Latin haesitō ‘to hesitate’
Today it means
adj Distinguished by hesitation; hesitating.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Latin haereō / hesitative