Where does “changeling” come from?
Changeling derives from Middle English -ling and Old English -ling, -a, ultimately from Latin cambire meaning to exchange, and Proto-Indo-European kamp-.
changeling (English): In pre-modern European folklore: an infant of a...
Definitions
- In pre-modern European folklore: an infant of a...
Ancestry of “changeling”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | change | To become something different; To make something... |
| 2 | Middle English | chaungen | to change; to modify |
| 3 | Anglo-Norman | chaunger | Late Anglo-Norman spelling of changier |
| 4 | Old French | changier | to change; to make a change |
| 5 | Late Latin | cambiare | — |
| 6 | Latin | cambiō | to exchange, barter; change |
| 7 | Latin | cambium | A change; cambium |
| 8 | Gaulish | cambion | change |
| 9 | Proto-Celtic | kambos | curved; twisted, crooked |
| 10 | Proto-Indo-European | kamp- | to bend; crooked; crooked |