Where does “coastguard” come from?
Coastguard is a compound of coast, from Middle English cooste, Old French coste, Latin costa meaning rib or side, and Proto-Indo-European kost-, combined with guard.
coastguard (English): Alternative spelling of coast guard
Definitions
- Alternative spelling of coast guard
Ancestry of “coastguard”, step by step
coastguard traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via English guard
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | guard | A person who, or thing that, protects or watches... |
| 2 | Middle English | garde | guardianship, safeguarding, covering, authority;... |
| 3 | Old French | guarde | protection; act of protecting; guard; inflection... |
| 4 | Old French | guarder | to protect; to guard; to look at |
| 5 | Frankish | wardēn | to protect; to guard, protect, watch over; to... |
| 6 | Proto-Germanic | wardāną | to guard, protect, watch over |
| 7 | Proto-Germanic | *warduz | — |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | wēr- | true |
| 9 | Proto-Indo-European | wer- | to burn; to cover, heed, notice; squirrel |