Where does “camshaft” come from?
Camshaft is a compound of cam and shaft, with shaft from Old English sceaft meaning rod or pole, and cam from camera, a Latin word for vault or arched chamber.
camshaft (English): A shaft fitted with cams; especially one in a...
Definitions
- A shaft fitted with cams; especially one in a...
Ancestry of “camshaft”, step by step
camshaft traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via English shaft
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | shaft | The entire body of a long weapon, such as an... |
| 2 | Old English | sċeaft | shaft; creation |
| 3 | Old English | sċieppan | to form; shape |
| 4 | Proto-West Germanic | skappjan | to make, to create |
| 5 | Proto-Germanic | skapjaną | to make, to create; to shape |
| 6 | Proto-Indo-European | skab- | to cut, split, hew, shape; to cut, split, carve,... |