Where does “curlicue” come from?
curlicue (English) comes from English cue, from English queue, from French queue, from Middle French queu, from Old French cue, from Vulgar Latin coda, from Latin cauda, from Proto-Italic kaudā.
curlicue (English): A fancy twisting or curling shape usually made...
Definitions
- A fancy twisting or curling shape usually made...
Ancestry of “curlicue”, step by step
curlicue traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via English cue
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | cue | An action or event that is a signal for somebody... |
| 2 | English | queue | An animal's tail; A line of people, vehicles or... |
| 3 | French | queue | tail; queue, line; cue |
| 4 | Middle French | queu | — |
| 5 | Old French | cue | tail |
| 6 | Vulgar Latin | coda | tail |
| 7 | Latin | cauda | A tail |
| 8 | Proto-Italic | kaudā | tail |
| 9 | Proto-Indo-European | keh₂udeh₂ | — |
via English curly
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | curly | Having curls; Curling in a direction, as opposed... |
| 2 | English | -y | Added to nouns and adjectives to form adjectives... |
| 3 | Middle English | -y | Designates an adjective, in many cases formed by... |
| 4 | Old English | -iġ | -y, -ic |
| 5 | Proto-West Germanic | -g | Forms adjectives from nouns and verbs with a... |
| 6 | Proto-Germanic | -gaz | -y |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | -ḱos | -y, -ic |