Where does “countdown” come from?
Countdown derives from English down combined with English count, which came from Anglo-Norman conte, from Latin comitatus meaning "retinue" or "company," ultimately from Latin comes meaning "companion."
countdown (English): A count backward in fixed units to the time of...
Definitions
- A count backward in fixed units to the time of...
Ancestry of “countdown”, step by step
countdown traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via English count
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | count | To recite numbers in sequence; To determine the... |
| 2 | Middle English | counten | To count enumerate; give the number of |
| 3 | Anglo-Norman | conter | to tell; to say; to recount; to add up |
| 4 | Old French | conter | to tell; to say; to recount; to add up |
| 5 | Latin | computō | to calculate, compute, reckon together |
| 6 | Latin | com- | allomorph of con- |
| 7 | Latin | con- | Used in compounds to indicate a being or bringing... |
| 8 | Latin | cum | with, along with; at; -fold |
| 9 | Old Latin | com | Alternative form of cum |
| 10 | Proto-Italic | kom | with, along, at |
| 11 | Proto-Indo-European | ḱóm | beside, near, by, with |
| 12 | Proto-Indo-European | ḱe | Deictic particle, here; Post-positional... |
| 13 | Middle English | kyt | — |
| 14 | German | kitt | putty certain kinds of cement used for fixing e.g. window panes |
| 15 | Old High German | kuti | — |
| 16 | Proto-West Germanic | kwidu | gum, resin |
| 17 | Proto-Germanic | kweduz | resin |
| 18 | Proto-Indo-European | gʷet- | resin, gum; to say, speak |
| 19 | Proto-Indo-European | gū- | to bend; curve; arch; vault; to bow, bend, arch,... |