Where does “biels” come from?
biels (Dutch) comes from Dutch biel, from French bille, from Middle French bille, from Old French bille, from Vulgar Latin billia, from Gaulish bilia, from Proto-Celtic belyom, from Proto-Indo-European bʰolh₃yom.
biels (Dutch): railway sleeper
Ancestry of “biels”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | Dutch | biel | railway sleeper |
| 2 | French | bille | marble; ball; ball bearing |
| 3 | Middle French | bille | — |
| 4 | Old French | bille | stick; baton; written decree, announcement |
| 5 | Vulgar Latin | billia | — |
| 6 | Gaulish | bilia | tall tree |
| 7 | Proto-Celtic | belyom | tree |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | bʰolh₃yom | leaf |
| 9 | Proto-Indo-European | bʰleh₃- | bloom, flower |
| 10 | Proto-Indo-European | bʰel- | to sound; to speak, roar, bark; shiny, white; to... |
| 11 | Proto-Indo-European | bʰōl- | — |