Where does “Zipf's law” come from?
Zipf's law (English) comes from English Law, from English speaker, from English -ine, from French -ine, from French -é, from Middle French -é, from Old French -é, from Latin -a.
Zipf's law (English): The fact that many types of data studied in the physical and social sciences can be approximated with a Zipfian distribution
Definitions
- The fact that many types of data studied in the physical and social sciences can be approximated with a Zipfian distribution
Ancestry of “Zipf's law”, step by step
Zipf's law traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via English Law
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | Law | perhaps originally meaning someone who lives near a burial mound |
| 2 | English | speaker | One who speaks; Loudspeaker; Speakerphone |
| 3 | English | -ine | Of or pertaining to; Used to form demonyms;... |
| 4 | French | -ine | feminine singular of -in; female equivalent of... |
| 5 | French | -é | past participle root verb suffix of regular -er... |
| 6 | Middle French | -é | past participle root verb suffix of regular; -ed, -en, -n |
| 7 | Old French | -é | used to form past participles of regular -er... |
| 8 | Latin | -a | suffixed to the roots of verbs, forms agent... |
| 9 | Proto-Italic | -ā | Forms masculine agent nouns from prefixed or compounded bases |
| 10 | Proto-Indo-European | -éh₂ | — |