Where does “cattleguard” come from?
cattleguard (English) comes from English guard, from Middle English garde, from Old French guarde, from Old French guarder, from Frankish wardēn, from Proto-Germanic wardāną, from Proto-Germanic *warduz, from Proto-Indo-European wēr- — to burn; to cover, heed, notice; squirrel.
cattleguard (English): A trench under a railroad track and alongside a...
Definitions
- A trench under a railroad track and alongside a...
Ancestry of “cattleguard”, step by step
cattleguard traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via English guard
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | guard | A person who, or thing that, protects or watches... |
| 2 | Middle English | garde | guardianship, safeguarding, covering, authority;... |
| 3 | Old French | guarde | protection; act of protecting; guard; inflection... |
| 4 | Old French | guarder | to protect; to guard; to look at |
| 5 | Frankish | wardēn | to protect; to guard, protect, watch over; to... |
| 6 | Proto-Germanic | wardāną | to guard, protect, watch over |
| 7 | Proto-Germanic | *warduz | — |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | wēr- | true |
| 9 | Proto-Indo-European | wer- | to burn; to cover, heed, notice; squirrel |
via English cattle
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | cattle | Domesticated bovine animals; Certain other... |
| 2 | Middle English | catel | Property, as distinguished from rent or income |
| 3 | Anglo-Norman | catel | personal property; Alternative form of chatel |
| 4 | Medieval Latin | capitale | young cattle |
| 5 | Latin | capitālis | of the head or life |
| 6 | Latin | caput | head; headlike protuberance on an organ or body... |
| 7 | Proto-Italic | kaput | head |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | káput | head |
| 9 | Proto-Indo-European | kap- | to seize, hold |