Where does “backstop” come from?
Backstop comes from English back and English top, ultimately from Old English stoppian, Old Swedish nattbakka, Latin bassus, Ancient Greek βάσις, and Proto-Indo-European gʷémtis, tracing a semantic path from a foundation or base to a stopping point.
backstop (English): A thing or a person put in the rear or in the...
Definitions
- A thing or a person put in the rear or in the...
Ancestry of “backstop”, step by step
backstop 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 stop
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | stop | To cease moving; To not continue; To cause to... |
| 2 | English | top | The highest or uppermost part of something; A... |
| 3 | Middle English | top | The summit or top of something, especially a... |
| 4 | Old English | topp | top, summit (of something) |
| 5 | Proto-West Germanic | *topp | top, summit, crest |
| 6 | Proto-Germanic | tuppaz | tuft, plait; top, summit |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | dumb- | tail, rod, staff, pole, penis; tail, rod, staff,... |