Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “amidships” come from?

Amidships derives from English ship combined with the prefix amid, tracing back through Middle English ship and Old English sċippan to Proto-Indo-European sek-, meaning to cut or divide.

amidships (English): In the middle of a ship, either longitudinally or...

Definitions

  1. In the middle of a ship, either longitudinally or...

Ancestry of “amidships”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Englishshipsplural of ship; Third-person singular simple...
2EnglishshipA water-borne vessel generally larger than a...
3EnglishrelationshipConnection or association; the condition of being...
4EnglishrelationThe manner in which two things may be associated;...
5Middle Englishrelacion—
6Old Frenchrelacion—
7Latinrelātiō—
8Latinreferō—
9Latinrĕ-—
10Latinprōdūcō—
11Latinprō-—
12Proto-Italic*pro-—
13Proto-Indo-Europeanpro-toward, forward
14Proto-Indo-Europeanpor-to give birth; forward, through; going, passage
15Proto-Indo-Europeanper-before, in front; first; to go through
Every word from Proto-Indo-European per- →