Where does “altarpiece” come from?
Altarpiece comes from Middle English altarpiece, combining altar from Old French piece, ultimately from Latin altus meaning "high," with piece from Old French piece of uncertain origin.
altarpiece (English): a work of art suspended above and behind an altar...
Definitions
- a work of art suspended above and behind an altar...
Ancestry of “altarpiece”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | English | altar | A table or similar flat-topped structure used for... |
| 2 | Old English | altar | altar |
| 3 | Latin | altāre | — |
| 4 | Latin | adoleō | — |
| 5 | Latin | ad- | to; usually prefixed to verbs, in which cases it... |
| 6 | Latin | īn- | — |
| 7 | Latin | în | — |
| 8 | Latin | en | lookǃ beholdǃ; reallyǃ?; come onǃ |
| 9 | Proto-Italic | en | in |
| 10 | Proto-Indo-European | h₁én | in |