Origin and history of obese

"condition or quality of being corpulent," 1610s, from French obésité and directly from Latin obesitas "fatness, corpulence," from obesus "that has eaten itself fat," past participle of obedere "to eat all over, devour," from ob "about; because of" (see ob-) + edere "eat" (from PIE root *ed- "to eat").

Proto-Indo-European root meaning "to eat," originally "to bite." 

It might form all or part of: alfalfa; anodyne; comedo; comestible; eat; edacious; edible; escarole; esculent; esurient; etch; ettin; fret (v.); frass; jotun; obese; obesity; ort; postprandial; prandial.

It might also be the source of: Sanskrit admi "I eat;" Avestan ad- "to eat;" Greek edo "I eat;" Latin edere "to eat;" Lithuanian ėdu "I eat," ėdžioti "to devour, bite;" Hittite edmi "I eat," adanna "food;" Armenian utem "I eat;" Old Church Slavonic jasti "to eat," Russian jest "to eat;" Old Irish ithim "I eat;" Gothic itan, Old Swedish and Old English etan, Old High German essan "to eat."

word-forming element meaning "toward; against; before; near; across; down," also used as an intensive, from Latin ob (prep.) "in the direction of, in front of, before; toward, to, at, upon, about; in the way of; with regard to, because of," from PIE root *epi, also *opi "near, against" (see epi-).