Where does “backyard” come from?
Backyard derives from English back combined with Old English ġeard, which comes from Old Swedish nattbakka, itself from Latin bassus meaning low, ultimately tracing to Ancient Greek βάσις and Proto-Indo-European gʷémtis.
backyard (English): A yard to the rear of a house or similar...
Definitions
- A yard to the rear of a house or similar...
Ancestry of “backyard”, step by step
backyard 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 Yard
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | Yard | Scotland Yard or New Scotland Yard |
| 2 | English | milliard | 10, a thousand million |
| 3 | French | milliard | A milliard |
| 4 | French | million | million, 10 |
| 5 | Middle French | million | million, 10 |
| 6 | Old French | millon | — |
| 7 | Italian | milione | million |
| 8 | Italian | mille | thousand |
| 9 | Latin | Mīlle | thousand; 1000 |
| 10 | Proto-Italic | smīɣeslī | thousand |
| 11 | Proto-Indo-European | smih₂ǵʰéslih₂ | — |