admire (English)
Where does "admire" come from?
The word 'admire' traces back to the Proto-Indo-European root meaning 'to laugh' or 'to smile,' which evolved into the Latin word for wonder and astonishment. It entered English via the Middle French 'admirer,' initially describing a sense of being amazed or marveling at something. Over time, the meaning shifted from pure surprise to the modern sense of viewing someone or something with high esteem and pleasure.
Full etymology tree
- admire (English), 'To be amazed at; to view with surprise; to marvel at.'
- inherited from admyren (Middle English)
- borrowed from admirer (Middle French)
- inherited from admīror (Latin), 'To be surprised at; to be astonished'
- compound of ad- (Latin), 'to'
- inherited from *ad- (Proto-Italic), 'ad-'
- inherited from *h₂éd (Proto-Indo-European), 'to, at'
- inherited from *ad- (Proto-Italic), 'ad-'
- compound of mīror (Latin), 'to be astonished at, marvel at, admire, be amazed at, wonder at'
- derived from mīrus (Latin), 'wonderful, marvelous, amazing, surprising, miraculous'
- inherited from *smeiros (Proto-Italic)
- inherited from *sméyros (Proto-Indo-European)
- derived from *(s)mey- (Proto-Indo-European), 'to laugh, to be glad'
- inherited from *sméyros (Proto-Indo-European)
- inherited from *smeiros (Proto-Italic)
- derived from mīrus (Latin), 'wonderful, marvelous, amazing, surprising, miraculous'
- compound of ad- (Latin), 'to'
- inherited from admīror (Latin), 'To be surprised at; to be astonished'
- borrowed from admirer (Middle French)
- inherited from admyren (Middle English)
Direct ancestors
Updated April 2026
Etymology data from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · About Miraris