Where does “clockspring” come from?
clockspring (English) comes from English clock, from Middle English clokke, from Middle Dutch clocke, from Old Dutch *clocca, from Proto-West Germanic *klokkā, from Medieval Latin clocca, from Old Irish cloc, from Proto-Celtic klokkos.
clockspring (English): A spring in a mechanical clock
Definitions
- A spring in a mechanical clock
Ancestry of “clockspring”, step by step
clockspring traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via English clock
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | clock | An instrument used to measure or keep track of... |
| 2 | Middle English | clokke | clock, timekeeping device |
| 3 | Middle Dutch | clocke | bell; something bell-shaped |
| 4 | Old Dutch | *clocca | bell |
| 5 | Proto-West Germanic | *klokkā | bell |
| 6 | Medieval Latin | clocca | bell; travelers' cape, literally “a bell”, so... |
| 7 | Old Irish | cloc | bell; clock |
| 8 | Proto-Celtic | klokkos | bell |
| 9 | Proto-Indo-European | klēg- | — |
via English spring
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | spring | To burst forth; To grow; To cause to burst forth |
| 2 | Romanian | Șpring | — |
| 3 | German | spring | singular imperative of springen; first-person... |
| 4 | German | springen | to spring; to leap; to bounce; to dive; to jump;... |
| 5 | Old High German | springan | — |
| 6 | Proto-Germanic | springaną | to spring, to jump up; to burst, to explode |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | spr̥ǵʰ | — |