Where does “bootblacker” come from?
bootblacker (English) comes from English boot, from French botte, from Italian botta, from Italian bottare, from French bouter, from Middle French bouter, from Old French bouter, from Frankish bautan — to grow, swell; to swell, wax, grow; to blow; to...
Ancestry of “bootblacker”, step by step
bootblacker traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via English boot
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | boot | A heavy shoe that covers part of the leg; A blow... |
| 2 | French | botte | boot; something resembling a boot; oppression |
| 3 | Italian | botta | blow, hit, shock, knock, attack |
| 4 | Italian | bottare | — |
| 5 | French | bouter | to push; to remove flesh from the skin of an... |
| 6 | Middle French | bouter | to pull |
| 7 | Old French | bouter | to strike; to hit; to place; to put; to enter |
| 8 | Frankish | bautan | to push, strike, beat; to hit, strike; to hit,... |
| 9 | Proto-West Germanic | bautan | to beat |
| 10 | Proto-Germanic | bautaną | to beat, push |
| 11 | Proto-Indo-European | bʰewd- | to hit, strike; to beat, push; to strike, push,... |
| 12 | Proto-Indo-European | bʰew- | to grow, swell; to swell, wax, grow; to blow; to... |
via English blacker
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | blacker | One who blacks; comparative form of black: more... |
| 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 |