Where does “Lufthansa” come from?
Lufthansa derives from German Luft, from Middle High German luft, from Old High German luft, from Proto-Germanic luftuz, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European lew-, meaning to break or peel.
Lufthansa (English): The national airline of Germany
Definitions
- The national airline of Germany
Ancestry of “Lufthansa”, step by step
Lufthansa traces back through 3 separate lines of ancestry.
via German hanse
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | German | hanse | a guild; a kind of commercial, and sometimes military, confederation of cities in the later Middle Ages; in particular the Hanseatic League of northern Germany |
| 2 | Middle High German | hanse | guild |
| 3 | Old High German | hansa | group; community; guild |
| 4 | Proto-Germanic | *hansu | — |
| 5 | Proto-Germanic | hansō | A gathering, summation, mass, quantity, amount; A... |
| 6 | Proto-Indo-European | ḱómsōd | union; gathering; union, gathering |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | ḱóm | beside, near, by, with |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | ḱe | Deictic particle, here; Post-positional... |
| 9 | Middle English | kyt | — |
| 10 | German | kitt | putty certain kinds of cement used for fixing e.g. window panes |
| 11 | Old High German | kuti | — |
| 12 | Proto-West Germanic | kwidu | gum, resin |
| 13 | Proto-Germanic | kweduz | resin |
| 14 | Proto-Indo-European | gʷet- | resin, gum; to say, speak |
| 15 | Proto-Indo-European | gū- | to bend; curve; arch; vault; to bow, bend, arch,... |
via German luft
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | German | luft | air, atmosphere |
| 2 | Middle High German | luft | — |
| 3 | Old High German | luft | air |
| 4 | Proto-West Germanic | luftu | roof; air |
| 5 | Proto-Germanic | luftuz | roof; roof of the earth, firmament; heavens, sky;... |
| 6 | Proto-Indo-European | lewp- | peel, break off; to flake off, peel, damage; to... |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | lew- | dirt, mud; to cut, remove, prune, separate; to... |
via German hansa
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | German | hansa | name of various clubs in northern Germany, most prominently |