Where does “blue-collar” come from?
blue-collar (English) comes from English collar, from Middle English coler, from Old French coler, from Latin collāre, from Latin collāris, from Latin collum, from Latin -is, from Latin -a.
blue-collar (English): Working class; engaged or trained in essentially...
Definitions
- Working class; engaged or trained in essentially...
Ancestry of “blue-collar”, step by step
blue-collar traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via English collar
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | collar | Anything that encircles the neck; A piece of meat... |
| 2 | Middle English | coler | A piece of clothing or jewelry for around the... |
| 3 | Old French | coler | collar |
| 4 | Latin | collāre | collar, neckband; chain for the neck |
| 5 | Latin | collāris | neck |
| 6 | Latin | collum | neck, throat; upper stem of a plant; servitude |
| 7 | Latin | -is | suffixed to the root of nouns in composition,... |
| 8 | Latin | -a | suffixed to the roots of verbs, forms agent... |
| 9 | Proto-Italic | -ā | Forms masculine agent nouns from prefixed or compounded bases |
| 10 | Proto-Indo-European | -éh₂ | — |
via English Blue
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | Blue | A letterman at Oxford or Cambridge; A member of... |
| 2 | Middle English | blēwe | — |
| 3 | Anglo-Norman | blew | blue |
| 4 | Middle French | bleu | blue |
| 5 | Old French | blöe | blue |
| 6 | Latvian | blāvus | accusative plural masculine form of blāvs |
| 7 | Old High German | blāo | blue, dark, grey; blue; yellow |
| 8 | Proto-West Germanic | blāu | blue |
| 9 | Proto-Germanic | blēwaz | blue; a dark bluish or grey colour, black |
| 10 | Proto-Indo-European | bʰlēw- | yellow, blond, grey |