Where does “block” come from?
Block comes from Middle English blok, Old French bloc, Middle Dutch blok, Old Dutch blok, and Proto-Germanic blukką, which derive from Proto-Indo-European bhelg'- meaning to swell or bulge.
block (English): A substantial, often approximately cuboid, piece...
Definitions
- A substantial, often approximately cuboid, piece...
Ancestry of “block”, step by step
block traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via French Bloc
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | French | Bloc | Bloc — Bloc Québécois (Bloc québécois) |
| 2 | Middle French | bloc | a considerable piece of something heavy, block |
| 3 | Old French | bloc | log, block |
| 4 | Dutch | blok | a block; a street block; a political bloc |
| 5 | Middle Dutch | blok | treetrunk |
| 6 | Old Dutch | blok | log |
| 7 | Proto-West Germanic | blokk | block, log |
| 8 | Proto-Germanic | blukką | block, log |
| 9 | Proto-Indo-European | bhulg'- | — |
| 10 | Proto-Indo-European | bhelg'- | thick plank, beam, pile, prop |
via Middle English blok
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Middle English | blok | log, stump, solid piece |