Where does “billet-doux” come from?
billet-doux (English) comes from French billet doux, from French billet, from Old French billette, from Old French bille, from Vulgar Latin billia, from Gaulish bilia, from Proto-Celtic belyom, from Proto-Indo-European bʰolh₃yom.
billet-doux (English): A love letter
Ancestry of “billet-doux”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | French | billet doux | — |
| 2 | French | billet | ticket; note, a brief message; banknote |
| 3 | Old French | billette | billet |
| 4 | Old French | bille | stick; baton; written decree, announcement |
| 5 | Vulgar Latin | billia | — |
| 6 | Gaulish | bilia | tall tree |
| 7 | Proto-Celtic | belyom | tree |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | bʰolh₃yom | leaf |
| 9 | Proto-Indo-European | bʰleh₃- | bloom, flower |
| 10 | Proto-Indo-European | bʰel- | to sound; to speak, roar, bark; shiny, white; to... |
| 11 | Proto-Indo-European | bʰōl- | — |