Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “León” come from?

León derives from Spanish león, from Latin legionem (legion, a military unit), from Latin lego meaning to gather or select, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European leǵ- meaning to collect.

Ancestry of “León”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Spanishleónlion; antlion; a brave person
2Latinlegiō—
3Latinlegō—
4Latinlēx—
5Proto-Italiclēg-—
6Proto-Indo-Europeanleǵ-s—
7Proto-Indo-Europeanleǵ-to gather, collect, with derivatives meaning to...
Every word from Proto-Indo-European leǵ- →