Where does “dogcatcher” come from?
dogcatcher (English) comes from English catcher, from English catch, from Middle English cacchen, from Anglo-Norman cachier, from Vulgar Latin coacticare, from Latin coactō, from Latin coactus, from Latin cōgō — whale, sea monster; abyss.
dogcatcher (English): A person whose job is to catch and remove stray...
Definitions
- A person whose job is to catch and remove stray...
Ancestry of “dogcatcher”, step by step
dogcatcher traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via English catcher
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | catcher | Someone or something that catches; The player... |
| 2 | English | catch | The act of seizing or capturing; The act of... |
| 3 | Middle English | cacchen | to catch |
| 4 | Anglo-Norman | cachier | to hide; Alternative form of chacier |
| 5 | Vulgar Latin | coacticare | present active infinitive of *coacticō |
| 6 | Latin | coactō | to compel, constrain, force |
| 7 | Latin | coactus | forced, compelled, having been forced; urged,... |
| 8 | Latin | cōgō | to collect, assemble, gather together |
| 9 | Latin | cōn- | Used in compounds to indicate a being or bringing together of several objects |
| 10 | Latin | cum | with, along with; at; -fold |
| 11 | Old Latin | com | Alternative form of cum |
| 12 | Proto-Italic | kom | with, along, at |
| 13 | Proto-Indo-European | ḱóm | beside, near, by, with |
| 14 | Proto-Indo-European | ḱe | Deictic particle, here; Post-positional... |
| 15 | Middle English | kyt | — |
| 16 | Russian | кит | whale; genitive plural of ки́та |
| 17 | Old Church Slavonic | китъ | whale |
| 18 | Ancient Greek | κῆτος | whale, sea monster; abyss |
via English dog
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | dog | A mammal, "Canis familiaris" or "Canis lupus... |
| 2 | English | dogshit | Dog excrement; Something disgusting, abominable,... |
| 3 | English | shit | Solid excretory product evacuated from the... |
| 4 | Middle Dutch | schite | — |
| 5 | Old Dutch | skīta | — |
| 6 | Old Saxon | skiti | — |
| 7 | Proto-Germanic | skītaz | — |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | sḱeyd- | to shade; to cut off; to part with, separate, cut... |
| 9 | Proto-Indo-European | sḱēy- | to shine; to shimmer; shadow; luster, gloss,... |
| 10 | Proto-Germanic | skaidą | separation, distinction |
| 11 | Proto-Indo-European | skÁit- | to cut, part, spearate, divide; to cut, part,... |