Where does “crossbar” come from?
Crossbar comes from Middle English crose bar, a compound of crose and bar whose original sense is not documented.
crossbar (English): Any transverse bar or piece, such as a bar across...
Definitions
- Any transverse bar or piece, such as a bar across...
Ancestry of “crossbar”, step by step
crossbar traces back through 3 separate lines of ancestry.
via English cross
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | cross | A geometrical figure consisting of two straight... |
| 2 | French | croix | cross; a representation of a cross; the cross as... |
| 3 | German | Kreuz | cross; clubs; sharp |
| 4 | Spanish | Cruz | cross |
| 5 | Portuguese | cruz | cross |
| 6 | Italian | croce | cross |
| 7 | Latin | crux | wooden frame on which criminals were crucified,... |
| 8 | Proto-Italic | *kruks | — |
| 9 | Proto-Indo-European | sḱer- | to caw, crow |
via English Bar
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | Bar | A solid, more or less rigid object of metal or wood with a uniform cross-section smaller than its length |
| 2 | German | bär | — |
| 3 | Middle High German | bër | bear |
| 4 | Old High German | beri | A berry |
| 5 | Proto-West Germanic | baʀi | berry |
| 6 | Proto-Germanic | bazją | berry |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | bʰeh₂- | to shine, glow light; to speak, say |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | bʰeh₂-s-ri- | — |
via Middle English crose bar
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Middle English | crose bar | — |