Where does “curb” come from?
Curb comes from Middle French courbe, from Latin curvus meaning "bent or curved," from Proto-Indo-European (s)ker-, ultimately from sek- meaning "to cut."
curb (English): A concrete margin along the edge of a road; a...
Definitions
- A concrete margin along the edge of a road; a...
Ancestry of “curb”, step by step
curb traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via French courbe
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | French | courbe | curve; curved; bent |
| 2 | Latin | curbus | — |
| 3 | Latin | curvus | bent, crooked, curved |
| 4 | Proto-Italic | korwos | — |
| 5 | Proto-Indo-European | ḱorh₂wós | — |
| 6 | Proto-Indo-European | ḱer- | to grow, to make grow, to nourish; to plait,... |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | kr̥- | to turn, to bend |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | ker- | army |
via Middle French courbe
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Middle French | courbe | curve, curved object |