Where does “backache” come from?
Backache comes from English back and the suffix -ache, with back deriving from Old English bæc, related to French bac and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European roots meaning to go or move.
backache (English): Any pain or ache in the back
Definitions
- Any pain or ache in the back
Ancestry of “backache”, step by step
backache traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via English back
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | back | Near the rear; Not current; Far from the main... |
| 2 | French | bac | ferry; vat; high school exit exam in France; A... |
| 3 | French | baccalauréat | baccalaureat; bachelor's degree |
| 4 | Medieval Latin | baccalaureatus | bachelor's degree |
| 5 | Latin | baccalaureus | bachelor |
| 6 | Latin | laurea | laurel, bay tree; crown, wreath or branch of... |
| 7 | Latin | laurus | laurel tree; laurels; a crown of laurel |
| 8 | English | -aceous | Of, relating to, resembling or containing the... |
| 9 | Latin | -āceus | aceous; resembling, having the nature of, forming, belonging to |
| 10 | Latin | -āx | ish, -y |
| 11 | Latin | -ium | Suffix used to form abstract nouns, sometimes... |
| 12 | Latin | -ius | forming adjectives from nouns; nominative neuter... |
| 13 | Proto-Italic | -jōs | Forms comparative adjectives |
| 14 | Proto-Indo-European | -yós | Creates adjectives from noun or verb stems |
via English ache
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | ache | To suffer pain; to be the source of, or be in,... |
| 2 | Middle English | ache | Aching; long-lasting hurting or injury; A plant... |
| 3 | Old French | ache | — |
| 4 | Latin | apium | parsley; celery; genitive plural of apis |
| 5 | Latin | Apis | A seaport town of Egypt situated at the borders with Marmarica |
| 6 | Ancient Greek | Ἄπις | — |
| 7 | Coptic | ϩⲁⲡⲉ | the Apis bull, a bull worshipped as a herald of the gods (first Ptah, then Osiris, then Atum) |
| 8 | Egyptian | ḥp | the god Apis |