Where does “feline” come from?
Feline derives from Latin felinus, formed with the Latin diminutive suffix -inus from a root related to Proto-Indo-European bʰel- and bʰleh₃-.
feline (English): Of or pertaining to cats; catlike; A cat; member...
Definitions
- Of or pertaining to cats; catlike; A cat; member...
Ancestry of “feline”, step by step
feline traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via Latin fēlis
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Latin | fēlis | Former constellation between Antlia and Hydra |
| 2 | Portuguese | Onça | English or American ounce, a unit of mass equal to 28.35 g |
| 3 | Latin | uncia | The twelfth part of something; twelfth; The... |
| 4 | Old French | lonce | lynx |
| 5 | Italian | lonza | loin of pork; a term used in the Middle Ages to... |
| 6 | Vulgar Latin | luncea | — |
| 7 | Latin | lynx | A lynx |
| 8 | Ancient Greek | λύγξ | lynx; hiccup |
| 9 | Latin | canadensis | Canadian |
| 10 | Latin | -ensis | Of or from |
| 11 | Latin | arvum | field; farm land |
| 12 | Latin | colō | to cultivate the land, till, tend, take care of a field or garden |
| 13 | Latin | quelō | — |
| 14 | Proto-Italic | kʷelō | to inhabit |
| 15 | Proto-Indo-European | kʷéleti | — |
| 16 | Proto-Indo-European | kʷel- | to turn |
via Latin fēlīnus
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Latin | fēlīnus | feline; of or pertaining to a cat |
| 2 | Latin | fēlēs | cat |
| 3 | Hungarian | fél | to fear, to be afraid of something; to fear... |
| 4 | Proto-Uralic | pide | tall |
| 5 | Finnish | pitää | to hold, grasp, grip; to keep, take; to like, be... |
| 6 | Proto-Finnic | pitädäk | to hold, to grasp; to keep |
| 7 | Proto-Finno-Ugric | pitä- | — |