Where does “autopista” come from?
autopista (Catalan) comes from Catalan pista, from French piste, from Italian pista, from Italian pesta, from Italian pestare, from Latin pisto, from Latin pīnsō, from Spanish pienso — to stretch.
autopista (Catalan): highway, motorway, freeway
Definitions
- highway, motorway, freeway
Ancestry of “autopista”, step by step
autopista traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via Catalan pista
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Catalan | pista | track, trail, lead; clue; runway |
| 2 | French | piste | track or trail; track; lead, hint |
| 3 | Italian | pista | track, trail, scent, clue; track, racetrack,... |
| 4 | Italian | pesta | footprint; mess, trouble; third-person singular... |
| 5 | Italian | pestare | to crush, grind, pound; to trample, step on,... |
| 6 | Latin | pisto | to pound |
| 7 | Latin | pīnsō | to beat, pound |
| 8 | Spanish | pienso | animal feed; thought |
| 9 | Latin | pēnsum | allotment, portion, weight (of wool measured out to a slave to spin in a day) |
| 10 | Latin | pendō | to weigh, weigh out |
| 11 | Proto-Italic | pendō | hang, put in a hanging position |
| 12 | Proto-Indo-European | (s)péndeti | — |
| 13 | Proto-Indo-European | (s)pend- | to stretch |
via Catalan auto
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Catalan | auto | car; automobile |
| 2 | Catalan | automòbil | automobile, motorcar, car |
| 3 | French | automobile | automotive; automobile |
| 4 | French | auto- | auto- regarding oneself |
| 5 | Ancient Greek | αὐτο- | self- |
| 6 | Ancient Greek | αὐτός | αὐτή f, αὐτό n; "first/second declension";... |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | h₂ew | away from, off; again |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | ǵʰe | Postpositional intensifying particle: indeed, at any rate, in fact |