Where does “coconut” come from?
Coconut derives from Spanish coco, from Latin coccum, which is related to Proto-Indo-European newd- through Latin noscere and gnosco, ultimately denoting knowledge or perception.
coconut (English): A fruit of the coconut palm (not a true nut), Cocos nucifera, having a fibrous husk surrounding a large seed
Definitions
- A fruit of the coconut palm (not a true nut), Cocos nucifera, having a fibrous husk surrounding a large seed
Ancestry of “coconut”, step by step
coconut traces back through 3 separate lines of ancestry.
via English coco
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | coco | Coconut palm; Coconut, the fruit of the coconut... |
| 2 | French | coco | Fruit of the coconut palm, also called noix de... |
| 3 | Middle French | coche | — |
| 4 | German | Kutsche | carriage; coach; A large, old automobile in poor... |
| 5 | French | couché | past participle of coucher; in bed |
| 6 | French | coucher | to lay, to lay down; to put to bed, to put up; to... |
| 7 | Middle French | coucher | to put to bed; setting |
| 8 | Old French | couchier | to go to bed; to have sex; bedtime |
| 9 | Latin | collocō | to place, put, set in order, assign, arrange |
| 10 | Latin | cōn- | Used in compounds to indicate a being or bringing together of several objects |
| 11 | Latin | cum | with, along with; at; -fold |
| 12 | Old Latin | com | Alternative form of cum |
| 13 | Proto-Italic | kom | with, along, at |
| 14 | Proto-Indo-European | ḱóm | beside, near, by, with |
| 15 | Proto-Indo-European | ḱe | Deictic particle, here; Post-positional... |
| 16 | Middle English | kyt | — |
| 17 | German | kitt | putty certain kinds of cement used for fixing e.g. window panes |
| 18 | Old High German | kuti | — |
| 19 | Proto-West Germanic | kwidu | gum, resin |
| 20 | Proto-Germanic | kweduz | resin |
| 21 | Proto-Indo-European | gʷet- | resin, gum; to say, speak |
| 22 | Proto-Indo-European | gū- | to bend; curve; arch; vault; to bow, bend, arch,... |