Where does “cell” come from?
cell (Dutch) comes from English cell, from English cell phone, from English cellular phone, from English phone, from English telephone, from French téléphone, from French télé-, from Ancient Greek τῆλε — whale, sea monster; abyss.
cell (Dutch): cellular phone, mobile phone
Definitions
- cellular phone, mobile phone
Ancestry of “cell”, step by step
cell traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via English cell
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | cell | A single-room dwelling for a hermit; A small... |
| 2 | English | cell phone | A portable, wireless telephone, which changes... |
| 3 | English | cellular phone | A mobile phone using cellular technology; A... |
| 4 | English | phone | A device for transmitting conversations and other... |
| 5 | English | telephone | A telecommunication device used for two-way... |
| 6 | French | téléphone | telephone; first-person singular present... |
| 7 | French | télé- | tele- |
| 8 | Ancient Greek | τῆλε | far off, afar, far away |
| 9 | Latin | commūnicāre | — |
| 10 | Latin | commūnis | common, commonplace, ordinary, general, universal, shared, shared alike, of both sides, belonging to two or more together |
| 11 | Old Latin | com(m)oinis | — |
| 12 | Proto-Italic | kommoinis | common |
| 13 | Proto-Indo-European | ḱom-moy-ni- | held in common |
| 14 | Proto-Indo-European | ḱóm | beside, near, by, with |
| 15 | Proto-Indo-European | ḱe | Deictic particle, here; Post-positional... |
| 16 | Middle English | kyt | — |
| 17 | Russian | кит | whale; genitive plural of ки́та |
| 18 | Old Church Slavonic | китъ | whale |
| 19 | Ancient Greek | κῆτος | whale, sea monster; abyss |
via Dutch cellulair
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dutch | cellulair | cellular |
| 2 | French | cellulaire | cellular; cellular phone, mobile phone; Ellipsis... |
| 3 | French | -aire | -ary; -aire |
| 4 | Latin | -ārius | er |
| 5 | Proto-Italic | *-āzios | Forms relational adjectives to nouns (and rarely numerals) |