Where does “prairie” come from?
prairie (American English) comes from French prairie, from Old French praerie, from Portuguese prataria, from Portuguese prata, from Old Portuguese prata, from Vulgar Latin platta, from Latin plattus, from Ancient Greek πλατύς — flat.
Ancestry of “prairie”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | French | prairie | meadow, grassland, pasture, prairie |
| 2 | Old French | praerie | meadow |
| 3 | Portuguese | prataria | silverware; cutlery; plates, dishes collectively |
| 4 | Portuguese | prata | silver; one hundred cents of current currency... |
| 5 | Old Portuguese | prata | silver |
| 6 | Vulgar Latin | platta | metal plate |
| 7 | Latin | plattus | flattened |
| 8 | Ancient Greek | πλατύς | wide, broad; flat, level; broad-shouldered |
| 9 | Proto-Indo-European | pléth₂us | flat, broad |
| 10 | Proto-Indo-European | pleth₂- | flat |