Etymology Explorer › Czech

Where does “čeština” come from?

čeština (Czech) comes from Slovene češčina, from Old Czech češský, from Old Czech Čech, from Proto-Slavic čelověkъ, from Proto-Indo-European (s)kʷel-, from Proto-Indo-European kʷel- — to turn.

Ancestry of “čeština”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1SlovenečeščinaCzech
2Old Czechčešský—
3Old CzechČech—
4Proto-Slavicčelověkъman, human
5Proto-Indo-European(s)kʷel-crowd, people
6Proto-Indo-Europeankʷel-to turn

Words derived from “čeština”

  • češtinář
  • pračeština
Every word from Proto-Indo-European kʷel- →