Where does “cheat grass” come from?
cheat grass (English) comes from English cheat, from Middle English chete, from Middle English achete, from Middle English eschete, from Old French eschet, from Old French escheoir, from Latin excadēre, from Latin cadēre — to fall.
cheat grass (English): downy brome; drooping brome (Bromus tectorum); an annual grass native to Europe, southwestern Asia and northern Africa
Definitions
- downy brome; drooping brome (Bromus tectorum); an annual grass native to Europe, southwestern Asia and northern Africa
Ancestry of “cheat grass”, step by step
cheat grass traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via English cheat
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | cheat | To violate rules in order to gain advantage from... |
| 2 | Middle English | chete | cottage |
| 3 | Middle English | achete | Escheat; the acquisition of property left without an inheritor |
| 4 | Middle English | eschete | The taking of property from a feudal subject due to extinction of their line or crimes committed; escheat |
| 5 | Old French | eschet | — |
| 6 | Old French | escheoir | to fall; to happen |
| 7 | Latin | excadēre | fall out |
| 8 | Latin | cadēre | — |
| 9 | Latin | cadō | to fall, to fall out |
| 10 | Proto-Italic | kadō | fall, sink |
| 11 | Proto-Indo-European | ḱad- | to fall |
via English grass
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | grass | Any plant of the family Poaceae, characterized by... |
| 2 | Middle English | gras | A grass; Any plant; especially a herbaceous one;... |
| 3 | Old English | græs | grass |
| 4 | Proto-West Germanic | gras | grass |
| 5 | Proto-Germanic | grasą | grass |
| 6 | Proto-Indo-European | ǵʰreh₁- | to become green, grow; to grow; to green, to grow |