Where does “contact” come from?
Contact derives from Latin contactus, the past participle of contingere, meaning to touch or come together, formed from the prefix com- meaning with or together.
contact (English): The act of touching physically; being in close...
Definitions
- The act of touching physically; being in close...
Ancestry of “contact”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Latin | contactus | touched on all sides, having been touched on all... |
| 2 | Latin | contingō | to touch on all sides, take hold of, come into contact with |
| 3 | Latin | cōn- | Used in compounds to indicate a being or bringing together of several objects |
| 4 | Latin | cum | with, along with; at; -fold |
| 5 | Old Latin | com | Alternative form of cum |
| 6 | Proto-Italic | kom | with, along, at |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | ḱóm | beside, near, by, with |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | ḱe | Deictic particle, here; Post-positional... |
| 9 | Middle English | kyt | — |
| 10 | German | kitt | putty certain kinds of cement used for fixing e.g. window panes |
| 11 | Old High German | kuti | — |
| 12 | Proto-West Germanic | kwidu | gum, resin |
| 13 | Proto-Germanic | kweduz | resin |
| 14 | Proto-Indo-European | gʷet- | resin, gum; to say, speak |
| 15 | Proto-Indo-European | gū- | to bend; curve; arch; vault; to bow, bend, arch,... |