English
indifferentist
Indifferentist comes from Latin indifferēns ‘indifferent’, from differēns ‘spreading, scattering, dispersing, separating’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *bʰer- ‘to bear, carry’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*bʰer-1‘to bear, carry’reconstructed
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*bʰéreti1‘to be carrying’reconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*ferō1‘to carry, bear’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEferō1‘to bear’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEdifferō1‘to carry different ways, spread, scatter, disperse, separate’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEdifferēns1‘spreading, scattering, dispersing, separating’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEindifferēns1‘indifferent’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400indifferent1
- English1500–presentindifferent1
- Englishtodayindifferentist1
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
- 1 Wiktionary, English indifferentist
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*bʰer-Wiktionary, English indifferentist‘to bear, carry’reconstructed
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*bʰéretiWiktionary, English indifferentist‘to be carrying’reconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*ferōWiktionary, English indifferentist‘to carry, bear’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEferōWiktionary, English indifferentist‘to bear’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEdifferōWiktionary, English indifferentist‘to carry different ways, spread, scatter, disperse, separate’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEdifferēnsWiktionary, English indifferentist‘spreading, scattering, dispersing, separating’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEindifferēnsWiktionary, English indifferentist‘indifferent’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400indifferentWiktionary, English indifferentist
- English1500–presentindifferentWiktionary, English indifferentist
- EnglishtodayindifferentistWiktionary, English indifferentist
A compound of indifferent + -ist
Proto-Indo-European *bʰer- ‘to bear, carry’
…
Latin differō ‘to carry different ways, spread, scatter,…’
Latin differēns ‘spreading, scattering, dispersing, separating’
Latin indifferēns
Old French indifferent
English indifferent
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *bʰer- ‘to bear, carry’
bar, birth, broad, bread, fortune, prefer, burden, bearing, barrel, barn, fury, baron, bark, bore, breeze, broom, barrow, embargo, berth, fret, ferret, insufferable, furtive, bier, bahar, birr, bairn, barrette, proffer, burnish, 113 more
through Proto-Indo-European *bʰéreti ‘to be carrying’
bear, borne, phosphate, phosphorus, euphoria, dysphoria, semaphore, phosphine, 91 more
through Proto-Italic *ferō ‘to carry, bear’
suffering, infertility, infertile, 67 more
through Latin ferō ‘to bear’
offer, transfer, translation, reference, relative, extraordinary, relate, relation, suffer, translate, frustration, strangely, referee, fertility, referendum, extravagant, fertile, elated, confer, frustrate, extraneous, infra, fertilization, infer, differentiation, ablation, elation, deference, collation, strangeness, collate, fertilize, oblate, ablative, estrange, deferential, differentially, differentiable, efferent, differentiator, 70 more
through Latin differō ‘to carry different ways, spread, scatter,…’
differently, differ, defer, dilate, 41 more
through Latin differēns ‘spreading, scattering, dispersing, separating’
Today it means
noun An advocate of indifferentism.
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “indifferentist”. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *bʰer- / indifferentist