Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “carpet” come from?

Carpet comes from Old French carpite, from Italian carpita, from Latin carpere meaning to pluck or card fibers, from Proto-Indo-European (s)ker-.

carpet (English): A fabric used as a complete floor covering; Any...

Definitions

  1. A fabric used as a complete floor covering; Any...

Ancestry of “carpet”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Middle Englishcarpette—
2Old Frenchcarpite—
3Medieval Latincarpita—
4Latincarperesecond-person singular future passive indicative...
5LatincarpoI pluck, pick, harvest; I tear off, tear out,...
6Proto-Italickarpō—
7Proto-Indo-Europeankerp-to pluck, harvest
8Proto-Indo-European(s)ḱer-dung, manure, filth; manure, dung, filth

Words derived from “carpet”

  • carpetbag
  • carpetbagger
  • carpetless
  • recarpet
  • carpetlike
  • carpetmaking
  • carpetmaker
  • carpetsweeper
  • carpetbaggery
  • carpetbeater
  • carpetway
  • carpetlayer
  • carpetable
  • carpetmonger
  • nanocarpet
  • carpetward
  • carpetball
  • carpet shark
  • carpeta
  • carpette
  • carpeta
  • カーペット
Every word from Proto-Indo-European (s)ḱer- →