Where does “block heater” come from?
block heater (English) comes from English block, from French Bloc, from Middle French bloc, from Old French bloc, from Dutch blok, from Middle Dutch blok, from Old Dutch blok, from Proto-West Germanic blokk — thick plank, beam, pile, prop.
block heater (English): An electric heater that heats the engine of a car to ease starting in cold weather
Definitions
- An electric heater that heats the engine of a car to ease starting in cold weather
Ancestry of “block heater”, step by step
block heater traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via English block
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | block | A substantial, often approximately cuboid, piece... |
| 2 | French | Bloc | Bloc — Bloc Québécois (Bloc québécois) |
| 3 | Middle French | bloc | a considerable piece of something heavy, block |
| 4 | Old French | bloc | log, block |
| 5 | Dutch | blok | a block; a street block; a political bloc |
| 6 | Middle Dutch | blok | treetrunk |
| 7 | Old Dutch | blok | log |
| 8 | Proto-West Germanic | blokk | block, log |
| 9 | Proto-Germanic | blukką | block, log |
| 10 | Proto-Indo-European | bhulg'- | — |
| 11 | Proto-Indo-European | bhelg'- | thick plank, beam, pile, prop |
via English heater
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | heater | A device that produces and radiates heat,... |
| 2 | English | -er | A person or thing that does an action indicated... |
| 3 | Middle English | -er | agentive suffix; agent noun suffix |
| 4 | Old French | -er | Alternative form of -ier, verbal suffix;... |
| 5 | Latin | -āre | first conjugation |
| 6 | Proto-Italic | -āō | Forms primarily denominative verbs |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | -eh₂yéti | Creates iterative/ frequentative/ intensive... |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | -yéti | Creates intransitive, often deponent,... |
| 9 | Proto-Indo-European | yé- | — |
| 10 | Chichewa | iye | he, she |