Where does “fiddlehead” come from?
fiddlehead (English) comes from English head, from English -y, from Middle English -y, from Old English -iġ, from Proto-West Germanic -g, from Proto-Germanic -gaz, from Proto-Indo-European -ḱos — -y, -ic.
fiddlehead (English): The scroll-shaped decoration at the tip of a...
Definitions
- The scroll-shaped decoration at the tip of a...
Ancestry of “fiddlehead”, step by step
fiddlehead traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via English head
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | head | The part of the body of an animal or human which... |
| 2 | English | -y | Added to nouns and adjectives to form adjectives... |
| 3 | Middle English | -y | Designates an adjective, in many cases formed by... |
| 4 | Old English | -iġ | -y, -ic |
| 5 | Proto-West Germanic | -g | Forms adjectives from nouns and verbs with a... |
| 6 | Proto-Germanic | -gaz | -y |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | -ḱos | -y, -ic |
via English fiddle
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | fiddle | Any of various bowed string instruments, often a... |
| 2 | Middle English | fiþele | A string instrument played with a bow; a viol |
| 3 | Old English | fiþele | fiddle, viol, violin |
| 4 | Medieval Latin | vitula | stringed instrument |
| 5 | Latin | Vitula | the Roman goddess of joy and victory. See |