Where does “blockface” come from?

blockface (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.

blockface (English): The side of a block that faces a given street

Definitions

  1. The side of a block that faces a given street

Ancestry of “blockface”, step by step

blockface traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.

via English block

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1EnglishblockA substantial, often approximately cuboid, piece...
2FrenchBlocBloc — Bloc Québécois (Bloc québécois)
3Middle Frenchbloca considerable piece of something heavy, block
4Old Frenchbloclog, block
5Dutchbloka block; a street block; a political bloc
6Middle Dutchbloktreetrunk
7Old Dutchbloklog
8Proto-West Germanicblokkblock, log
9Proto-Germanicblukkąblock, log
10Proto-Indo-Europeanbhulg'-
11Proto-Indo-Europeanbhelg'-thick plank, beam, pile, prop

via English face

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1EnglishfaceThe front part of the head of a human or other...
2Middle Englishfaceface; Alternative form of fass
3Old Frenchfaceface
4Late Latinfacia
Every word from Proto-Indo-European bhelg'-
blockface — Etymology, Origin & Word History | Etymology Explorer