Where does “autopista” come from?
autopista (English) comes from Spanish autopista, from Spanish pista, from Italian pista, from Italian pesta, from Italian pestare, from Latin pisto, from Latin pīnsō, from Spanish pienso — to stretch.
autopista (English): A controlled-access highway in various Spanish-speaking countries
Definitions
- A controlled-access highway in various Spanish-speaking countries
Ancestry of “autopista”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Spanish | autopista | motorway, freeway |
| 2 | Spanish | pista | track, course, trail; runway; clue |
| 3 | Italian | pista | track, trail, scent, clue; track, racetrack,... |
| 4 | Italian | pesta | footprint; mess, trouble; third-person singular... |
| 5 | Italian | pestare | to crush, grind, pound; to trample, step on,... |
| 6 | Latin | pisto | to pound |
| 7 | Latin | pīnsō | to beat, pound |
| 8 | Spanish | pienso | animal feed; thought |
| 9 | Latin | pēnsum | allotment, portion, weight (of wool measured out to a slave to spin in a day) |
| 10 | Latin | pendō | to weigh, weigh out |
| 11 | Proto-Italic | pendō | hang, put in a hanging position |
| 12 | Proto-Indo-European | (s)péndeti | — |
| 13 | Proto-Indo-European | (s)pend- | to stretch |