Where does “chapter” come from?
Chapter comes from Middle English chapiter, from Old French chapitre, from Latin caput meaning "head," ultimately from Proto-Indo-European kauput-.
chapter (English): One of the main sections into which the text of a...
Definitions
- One of the main sections into which the text of a...
Ancestry of “chapter”, step by step
chapter traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via Middle English chapiter
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Middle English | chapiter | — |
| 2 | Old French | chapitre | chapter |
| 3 | Latin | capitulum | A head-like object or structure; A chapter,... |
| 4 | Latin | -ulus | Used to form a diminutive of a noun, indicating... |
| 5 | Proto-Italic | -olos | — |
| 6 | Proto-Italic | -elos | Forms desubstantival and deadjectival diminutive nouns |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | -e-lós | — |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | -lós | Forms agent nouns from verbal roots |
via Middle English chapitre
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Middle English | chapitre | A chapter, passage, or section of a book |