Where does “backfill” come from?
Backfill derives from English back and fill, with back tracing through French bac to Old English fyllan, Old Swedish nattbakka, Latin bassus meaning low, and Ancient Greek βάσις meaning foundation.
backfill (English): To refill a hole with the material dug out of it;...
Definitions
- To refill a hole with the material dug out of it;...
Ancestry of “backfill”, step by step
backfill 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 Fill
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | Fill | To make full |
| 2 | Middle English | fillen | to fill |
| 3 | Old English | fyllan | to fill; Alternative form of fiellan |
| 4 | Proto-West Germanic | *fullijan | to fill |
| 5 | Proto-Germanic | fullijaną | to fill, to make full |
| 6 | Proto-Germanic | fullaz | full; the whole, the entire |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | pl̥h₁nós | full |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | pleh₁- | to fill |