Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “female tank” come from?

female tank (English) comes from English female, from Middle English female, from Middle English femelle, from Old French femelle, from Medieval Latin femella, from Latin femella, from Latin -lus, from Proto-Italic -elos — Forms agent nouns from verbal roots.

female tank (English): an armoured fighting vehicle on caterpillar...

Definitions

  1. an armoured fighting vehicle on caterpillar...

Ancestry of “female tank”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1EnglishfemaleBelonging to the sex which typically produces...
2Middle Englishfemale—
3Middle Englishfemelle—
4Old Frenchfemellefemale
5Medieval Latinfemellaa female; girl, young woman; vocative singular of...
6Latinfemellagirl, young woman; vocative singular of femella;...
7Latin-lusAlternative form of -ulus; diminutive suffix
8Proto-Italic-elos—
9Proto-Indo-European-e-lós—
10Proto-Indo-European-lósForms agent nouns from verbal roots
Every word from Proto-Indo-European -lós →