Where does “dental floss” come from?
dental floss (English) comes from English dental, from Middle French dental, from Latin dentālis, from Latin dēns, from Italian dente, from Latin dens, from Proto-Italic dents, from Proto-Indo-European h₃dónts — to eat.
dental floss (English): A cord of thin filaments used to clean the areas...
Definitions
- A cord of thin filaments used to clean the areas...
Ancestry of “dental floss”, step by step
dental floss traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via English dental
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | dental | Of or concerning the teeth, as in "dental care";... |
| 2 | Middle French | dental | — |
| 3 | Latin | dentālis | bearing or furnished with small toothlike projections |
| 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 |