English
pulverulent
Pulverulent comes from Latin pulverulentus ‘dusty, pulverulent, full of dust,…’, and goes back to pulvis.
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpulvis‘dust’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEpulverulentus‘dusty, pulverulent, full of dust, dust-raising, resembling a cloud of dust’
- Englishearliest quotation 1900pulverulent
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Earlier history uncertain.
Lineage
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpulvis‘dust’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEpulverulentus‘dusty, pulverulent, full of dust, dust-raising, resembling a cloud of dust’
- Englishearliest quotation 1900pulverulent
Earliest quotation: 1900, H. G. Wells: “The first pulverulent snows told that Christmas was at…”
Equivalent to pulver + -ule + -ent
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *pel- ‘flour, dust’
film, felt, simply, simple, push, complain, filter, fold, repeal, pulse, flaw, palate, expel, repel, palladium, propel, pollen, palpable, pall, palatable, compulsive, pelt, wallow, peloton, polemic, pollinate, palatal, tuple, peplum, palp, pillion, muffle, apoplexy, interpolate, 63 more
through Latin pulvis ‘dust’
Today it means
adj Consisting of, covered with, or disintegrating into a fine powder; powdery; dusty.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Latin pulvis / pulverulent