Combust
/kəmˈbʌst/noun
To burn or be consumed by fire.
Did you know?Its Latin ancestor, combustus, is the past participle of comburere, a verb built from com- (“together”) + ardere (“to burn”), so the word originally carried the sense of being burned up completely.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*bʰer-
“to burn, shine”
Latin
Latin
ardēre
“to burn, blaze”
Latin
Latin
comburere
“to burn up completely”
Late Latin
Latin
combustus
“burned up, consumed by fire”
14th Century
English
combusten
“to burn up”
Modern English
English
combust
“to burn or be consumed by fire”
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