Where does “king spade” come from?
king spade (Cebuano) comes from Cebuano King, from English King, from Middle English king, from Old English cyning, from Old English tūn, from Proto-West Germanic tūn, from Proto-Germanic tūną, from Gaulish dunum — smoke; mist, haze.
king spade (Cebuano): the king of spades
Definitions
- the king of spades
Ancestry of “king spade”, step by step
king spade traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via Cebuano King
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cebuano | King | the title of a king |
| 2 | English | King | radiotelephony clear-code word for the letter K |
| 3 | Middle English | king | king monarch |
| 4 | Old English | cyning | king |
| 5 | Old English | tūn | enclosure, yard; place; dwelling |
| 6 | Proto-West Germanic | tūn | fence |
| 7 | Proto-Germanic | tūną | fence; enclosure |
| 8 | Gaulish | dunum | fort; hill, hillfort |
| 9 | Proto-Celtic | dūnom | stronghold, rampart |
| 10 | Proto-Indo-European | dʰewh₂- | smoke; mist, haze |
via Cebuano spades
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cebuano | spades | — |