Where does “can” come from?
Can comes from Middle English connen, from Old French cane, from Latin canna, from Ancient Greek κάννα, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European ǵen-.
can (English): To know how to; to be able to; May; to be...
Definitions
- To know how to; to be able to; May; to be...
Ancestry of “can”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | Spanish | can | dog, hound |
| 2 | Latin | Canis | — |
| 3 | Ancient Greek | δρόμος | race, running; racetrack; course, path |
| 4 | Ancient Greek | -ός | — |
| 5 | Proto-Hellenic | *-os | — |
| 6 | Proto-Indo-European | -ós | Creates agent nouns from verb stems, denoting... |