Kilo Lingo

Line drawing of dentisto
Coloured illustration of dentisto
#1814 of 5,000 Core 5000

Translation

dentist

Word origin

Built inside Esperanto from dento ('tooth') and the suffix -ist-, which names the person whose profession is the root. Dento is Latin dens, dentis, and the same tooth is inside trident and indent.

Origin
Esperanto derivation from Latin
Root
dento + -ist-
English cognates
dentist, dental, trident

Examples

.

I have to go to the dentist tomorrow.

.

The dentist looked into my mouth.

, .

The child is afraid of the dentist, but does not cry.

A clean build, and one of the easiest in the language to justify: dento is a tooth, -- is the professional suffix, so is a teeth professional. The coincidence that English arrived at the same string by a different route through French e is a bonus, not the reason. The suffix is doing real work here, and you can watch it work across the whole profession list: , , , , o, . The article on the people-making affixes sets out the family.

Note what -- actually claims. It marks someone defined by an occupation or a committed adherence, not merely someone who does the thing once. A person with a mouthful of teeth is not a . And Esperanto uses the same suffix for adherents of a doctrine, so and are formed identically to . That double duty occasionally raises eyebrows and is entirely regular.

Beside it, kuracisto is a doctor, from , to treat medically, and it is a verb root taking -- where is a noun root taking --. Both are allowed. Dentkuracisto also exists and is the more precise word for a dental surgeon, though is what anyone says out loud.

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Esperanto · Free printables

dentisto: worksheet, infographic and listicle

Free printable study downloads for the Esperanto word "dentisto" (dentist): a worksheet with the answer key built in, an infographic, and a sentence listicle. Open any one to view, print or save.

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This word is part of lesson 37.