Where does “distance” come from?
Distance comes from Middle English distance, from Old French destance, from Latin distantia, meaning the condition of standing apart, ultimately from the Proto-Indo-European root steh₂- meaning to stand.
distance (English): The amount of space between two points, usually...
Definitions
- The amount of space between two points, usually...
Ancestry of “distance”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Middle English | distance | — |
| 2 | Middle French | distance | — |
| 3 | Old French | destance | — |
| 4 | Latin | distantia | distance, remoteness; difference, diversity;... |
| 5 | Latin | distāns | standing apart |
| 6 | Latin | distō | to stand apart; to be distant |
| 7 | Latin | dis- | asunder, apart, in two; reversal, removal;... |
| 8 | Latin | calceus | shoe |
| 9 | Latin | calx | limestone; chalk; the finish line |
| 10 | Ancient Greek | χάλιξ | small stone, pebble; gravel, rubble |