Where does “blockpate” come from?
blockpate (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.
blockpate (English): A stupid person; a blockhead
Definitions
- A stupid person; a blockhead
Ancestry of “blockpate”, step by step
blockpate 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 pâté
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | pâté | A finely-ground paste of meat, fish or... |
| 2 | French | pâté | paste; pâté |
| 3 | French | pâte | paste; pastry; dough; batter; pastas |
| 4 | Middle French | paste | — |
| 5 | Old French | pasté | pie or a similar baked good |
| 6 | Latin | pasta | paste; nominative/vocative feminine singular of... |
| 7 | Ancient Greek | παστά | barley porridge |
| 8 | Ancient Greek | παστός | sprinkled with salt, salted; woman's chamber,... |
| 9 | Ancient Greek | πάσσω | I sprinkle |
| 10 | Proto-Indo-European | kʷeh₁t- | to shake |