Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “Fanny” come from?

Fanny comes from the English diminutive of Frances, from Old French Franceise and Franceis, ultimately from Latin Francia and the suffix -iscus, with roots in Proto-Indo-European prAng-.

Ancestry of “Fanny”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1EnglishFrances—
2Old FrenchFranceise—
3Late LatinFranciscus—
4Latinfrancusfranc; a Frenchman; Frank, of or pertaining to...
5Frankishfrank—
6Proto-Germanicfrankôspear, javelin; a Frank
7Proto-Indo-EuropeanprAng-pole, stalk

Words derived from “Fanny”

  • Fan
  • Fanny
  • Fanni
  • Pane
Every word from Proto-Indo-European prAng- →