Where does “centimetre” come from?
Centimetre comes from French centimètre, formed from French mètre and the prefix centi-, where mètre derives from Ancient Greek μέτρον meaning "measure."
centimetre (English): An SI unit of length equal to 10−2 metres....
Definitions
- An SI unit of length equal to 10−2 metres....
Ancestry of “centimetre”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | French | centimètre | centimetre |
| 2 | French | centi- | centi |
| 3 | Latin | centi- | one hundred-, hundred-; "indicates a count of one... |
| 4 | Latin | centum | a hundred; 100 |
| 5 | Latin | folium | a leaf; a petal; a sheet or leaf of paper |
| 6 | Proto-Italic | *foljom | — |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | bʰolh₃yom | leaf |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | bʰleh₃- | bloom, flower |
| 9 | Proto-Indo-European | bʰel- | to sound; to speak, roar, bark; shiny, white; to... |
| 10 | Proto-Indo-European | bʰōl- | — |