Where does “catchpenny” come from?
catchpenny (English) comes from English catch, from Middle English cacchen, from Anglo-Norman cachier, from Vulgar Latin coacticare, from Latin coactō, from Latin coactus, from Latin cōgō, from Latin cōn- — resin.
catchpenny (English): A cheap item designed to attract purchasers of...
Definitions
- A cheap item designed to attract purchasers of...
Ancestry of “catchpenny”, step by step
catchpenny traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via English catch
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | catch | The act of seizing or capturing; The act of... |
| 2 | Middle English | cacchen | to catch |
| 3 | Anglo-Norman | cachier | to hide; Alternative form of chacier |
| 4 | Vulgar Latin | coacticare | present active infinitive of *coacticō |
| 5 | Latin | coactō | to compel, constrain, force |
| 6 | Latin | coactus | forced, compelled, having been forced; urged,... |
| 7 | Latin | cōgō | to collect, assemble, gather together |
| 8 | Latin | cōn- | Used in compounds to indicate a being or bringing together of several objects |
| 9 | Latin | cum | with, along with; at; -fold |
| 10 | Old Latin | com | Alternative form of cum |
| 11 | Proto-Italic | kom | with, along, at |
| 12 | Proto-Indo-European | ḱóm | beside, near, by, with |
| 13 | Proto-Indo-European | ḱe | Deictic particle, here; Post-positional... |
| 14 | Middle English | kyt | — |
| 15 | German | kitt | putty certain kinds of cement used for fixing e.g. window panes |
| 16 | Old High German | kuti | — |
| 17 | Proto-West Germanic | kwidu | gum, resin |
| 18 | Proto-Germanic | kweduz | resin |
via English penny
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | penny | In the United Kingdom and Ireland, a copper coin... |
| 2 | English | -y | Added to nouns and adjectives to form adjectives... |
| 3 | Middle English | -y | Designates an adjective, in many cases formed by... |
| 4 | Old English | -iġ | -y, -ic |
| 5 | Proto-West Germanic | -g | Forms adjectives from nouns and verbs with a... |
| 6 | Proto-Germanic | -gaz | -y |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | -ḱos | -y, -ic |