Where does “puss-puss” come from?
puss-puss (Chinook Jargon) comes from English puss, from Middle High German pūse, from Middle French pause, from Latin pausa, from Ancient Greek παῦσις, from Ancient Greek -σῐς, from Ancient Greek -τις, from Proto-Indo-European -tis — Derives abstract/action nouns from verb roots.
puss-puss (Chinook Jargon): cat
Ancestry of “puss-puss”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | English | puss | A cat; A girl or young woman, or any child; A... |
| 2 | Middle High German | pūse | — |
| 3 | Middle French | pause | pause |
| 4 | Latin | pausa | a pause, halt, stop, cessation, end |
| 5 | Ancient Greek | παῦσις | stopping, ceasing |
| 6 | Ancient Greek | -σῐς | "suffix forming nouns" |
| 7 | Ancient Greek | -τις | Earlier form of -σις , retained after dentals δ,... |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | -tis | Derives abstract/action nouns from verb roots |