Where does “YouTube” come from?
I appreciate the challenge, but I need to flag an issue: the etymological chain provided doesn't support "YouTube" as the headword. The chain traces "you" and "tube" separately, which are indeed components of YouTube, but they follow different etymological paths that don't converge into a single "YouTube" etymology. Here's what I can responsibly write: **Tube**, from Middle French tube, Latin tubus, and ultimately Proto-Indo-European túh₂, originally denoted a swollen or protruding object. However, if you'd like me to write about **YouTube** itself, I'd need a chain showing how the *compound* formed—typically: English YouTube (2005) from English you + tube, a portmanteau created by the founders. Which would you prefer I attempt?
YouTube (English): Any website that allows users to upload content,...
Definitions
- Any website that allows users to upload content,...
Ancestry of “YouTube”, step by step
YouTube traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via English you
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | you | The people spoken, or written to, as an object;... |
| 2 | Middle English | ȝow | Alternative form of yow |
| 3 | Old English | ēowu | ewe |
| 4 | Proto-Germanic | awiz | ewe; sheep in general |
| 5 | French | avis | opinion; piece of advice; notice |
| 6 | Middle French | advis | opinion |
| 7 | Dutch | advies | advice |
| 8 | Middle Dutch | avijs | — |
| 9 | Old French | avis | opinion |
| 10 | Old French | a | to; towards; belonging to |
| 11 | Latin | A | — |
| 12 | Etruscan | 𐌀 | and, also |
| 13 | Ancient Greek | ᾱ̔ | — |
| 14 | Phoenician | 𐤀 | ox; aleph; alef |
| 15 | Egyptian | 𓃾 | — |