Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “Tongan” come from?

Tongan comes from English Tonga, from Tongan Tonga, from Samoan toga, ultimately from Proto-Italic -os through Latin -us, -um, -anus.

Tongan (English): An Austronesian language of the Polynesian branch...

Definitions

  1. An Austronesian language of the Polynesian branch...

Ancestry of “Tongan”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Swedish-anmaking a noun from a verb, similar to -ing and...
2Old Norse-anUsed to derive nouns from class 2 weak verbs;...
3Proto-Germanic-ōnizForms abstract nouns from weak class 2 verbs
4Proto-Germanic-nizForms abstract nouns from verbal roots and stems
5Proto-Indo-European-nis—
Every word from Proto-Indo-European -nis →