Where does “bedroll” come from?
I can't write this etymology with confidence because the chain provided appears corrupted or incorrect. Latin "rotula" and "rota" (meaning "wheel") don't plausibly connect to English "bed" or "bedroll." A bedroll is a bundle of bedding, which should derive from "bed" (sleeping furniture), not from wheel-related Latin roots. Could you verify the chain? A reliable etymology would trace bedroll → bed + roll, with "bed" coming from Old English "bedd" and "roll" from Old French "rolle."
bedroll (English): A roll of bedding that can be carried when hiking...
Definitions
- A roll of bedding that can be carried when hiking...
Ancestry of “bedroll”, step by step
bedroll traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via English bed
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | bed | A piece of furniture, usually flat and soft, on... |
| 2 | Middle English | bed | A place of rest or sleep |
| 3 | Old English | bedd | bed |
| 4 | Proto-West Germanic | badi | bed |
| 5 | Persian | بدی | badness |
| 6 | Persian | بد | bad; not good; evil; poorly, badly |
| 7 | Middle Persian | 𐭯𐭥𐭭 | to; at; in |
| 8 | Proto-Iranian | pati- | against, toward; lord |
| 9 | Proto-Iranian | *rādi- | — |
| 10 | Proto-Iranian | *rād- | — |
| 11 | Proto-Indo-Iranian | HraHdʰ- | — |
| 12 | Proto-Indo-European | Hreh₁dʰ- | to think; to arrange; to succeed, accomplish |
| 13 | Proto-Indo-European | h₂reh₁- | to think, reason; to arrange |
| 14 | Proto-Indo-European | h₂er- | to fit, to fix, to put together |
via English roll
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | roll | To cause to revolve by turning over and over; to... |
| 2 | Middle English | rolle | — |
| 3 | Old French | rolle | registration |
| 4 | Medieval Latin | rotulus | a roll, list, catalogue, schedule, record, a... |
| 5 | Latin | rotula | a small wheel; roll |
| 6 | Arabic | رَطْل | — |
| 7 | Classical Syriac | ܪܝܛܠܐ | — |
| 8 | Classical Syriac | ܠܝܛܪܐ | libra, pound |
| 9 | French | litre | litre |
| 10 | Medieval Latin | litra | — |
| 11 | Ancient Greek | λίτρα | litra, a Sicilian silver coin; libra, a unit of... |
| 12 | Proto-Italic | *līðrā | ingot |