Where does “dent” come from?
Dent comes from Latin dens, ultimately derived from Proto-Indo-European roots related to eating and tooth formation.
dent (English): A shallow deformation in the surface of an...
Definitions
- A shallow deformation in the surface of an...
Ancestry of “dent”, step by step
dent traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via French dent
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | French | dent | tooth; cog |
| 2 | Middle French | dent | tooth |
| 3 | Old French | dent | tooth |
| 4 | Latin | dēns | a tooth |
| 5 | Italian | dente | tooth; cog, prong |
| 6 | Latin | dens | tooth; a spike, prong, or any tooth-like... |
| 7 | Proto-Italic | dents | tooth |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | h₃dónts | tooth |
| 9 | Proto-Indo-European | h₁ed- | to eat |
via Middle English dent
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | Middle English | dent | Alternative form of dint |
| 2 | Old English | dynt | blow, strike |
| 3 | Proto-West Germanic | *dunti | — |
| 4 | Proto-Germanic | duntiz | shock, impact, blow |
| 5 | Proto-Indo-European | dʰén- | surface |
Words derived from “dent”