Where does “featherpate” come from?
featherpate (English) comes from English pâté, from French pâté, from French pâte, from Middle French paste, from Old French pasté, from Latin pasta, from Ancient Greek παστά, from Ancient Greek παστός — to shake.
featherpate (English): A foolish, frivolous person; an airhead
Definitions
- A foolish, frivolous person; an airhead
Ancestry of “featherpate”, step by step
featherpate traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via English pâté
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | pâté | A finely-ground paste of meat, fish or... |
| 2 | French | pâté | paste; pâté |
| 3 | French | pâte | paste; pastry; dough; batter; pastas |
| 4 | Middle French | paste | — |
| 5 | Old French | pasté | pie or a similar baked good |
| 6 | Latin | pasta | paste; nominative/vocative feminine singular of... |
| 7 | Ancient Greek | παστά | barley porridge |
| 8 | Ancient Greek | παστός | sprinkled with salt, salted; woman's chamber,... |
| 9 | Ancient Greek | πάσσω | I sprinkle |
| 10 | Proto-Indo-European | kʷeh₁t- | to shake |
via English feather
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | feather | A branching, hair-like structure that grows on... |
| 2 | German | feder | feather |
| 3 | Middle High German | vëdere | feather |
| 4 | Old High German | fedara | feather |
| 5 | Proto-West Germanic | feþru | feather |
| 6 | Proto-Germanic | feþrō | feather |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | péth₂r̥ | wing; feather |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | peth₂- | to spread out; to fly |