Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “backshore” come from?

backshore (English) comes from English back-, from Middle English bak-, from Middle English abak, from Old English onbæc, from Old English on, from Proto-West Germanic ana, from Proto-Germanic *an, from Proto-Germanic ana — on, onto.

backshore (English): An upper shore zone above high-tide

Definitions

  1. An upper shore zone above high-tide

Ancestry of “backshore”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Englishback-Back "in its adverbial senses"; Situated,...
2Middle Englishbak-—
3Middle Englishabak—
4Old Englishonbæc—
5Old Englishonon, in, at, among; from
6Proto-West Germanicanaon
7Proto-Germanic*an—
8Proto-Germanicanaon, at; on, onto; ana
9Proto-Indo-Europeanh₂en-on, onto
Every word from Proto-Indo-European h₂en- →