sedentary

Where does the word "sedentary" come from? It comes from Latin sedere, passing through Latin before entering English (1600s).

Sedentary’s story begins in Latin: sedere meant “to sit.” The root of 'sediment', 'session' and 'president'. Within Latin, it grew into sedentarius by ancient. Sitting much, inactive, from sedere. It reached English by 1600s as sedentary. Settled as the English word for spending much time seated and inactive. Today, sedentary means characterized by much sitting and little physical activity.

1. Stage 1 · Latin · ancient sedere "to sit", the root of 'sediment', 'session' and 'president'.
2. Stage 2 · Latin · ancient sedentarius "sitting much, inactive", sitting much, inactive, from sedere.
3. Stage 3 · English · 1600s sedentary "spending much time seated and physically inactive", settled as the English word for spending much time seated and inactive.