Where does “bluegill” come from?
I need to work through this etymology chain carefully.
The chain provided goes from English back through Middle English, Proto-Germanic, Proto-Indo-European, Frankish, and back to Proto-Indo-European roots. However, I notice some issues:
1. The headword is "bluegill" but the chain starts with "blue"
2. The chain has some apparent repetitions and unclear connections (Proto-Indo-European appears multiple times with different roots)
3. A "bluegill" is a type of fish, which is a compound of "blue" + "gill"
The chain as written seems to trace "blue" through: English blue ← Middle English gile ← Proto-Germanic blewwaną ← Proto-Indo-European mléw-e- (then it branches/becomes unclear with Frankish wigila and other PIE forms).
Given the instruction to "state only what the chain supports
bluegill (English): A North American sunfish; "Lepomis macrochirus"
Definitions
- A North American sunfish; "Lepomis macrochirus"
Ancestry of “bluegill”, step by step
| 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 | — |
| 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 |