Where does “close” come from?
Close comes from French clos, from Latin clausum (past participle of claudere, meaning to shut or close), ultimately derived from Proto-Indo-European kel-.
close (English): To remove a gap; To finish, to terminate; To come...
Definitions
- To remove a gap; To finish, to terminate; To come...
Ancestry of “close”, step by step
close traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via Middle English closen
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Middle English | closen | to close, enclose |
| 2 | Old English | clȳsan | to close, shut |
| 3 | Old English | klūsijan | to close, shut in |
| 4 | Latin | clausum | enclosed space, enclosure; nominative neuter... |
| 5 | Latin | clausus | closed, inaccessible; having been closed;... |
| 6 | Latin | claudere | present active infinitive of claudō;... |
| 7 | Latin | claudo | I shut, close, lock; I imprison, confine; I... |
| 8 | Proto-Italic | klaudō | close |