Where does “fingerspelling” come from?
fingerspelling (English) comes from English spelling, from English -ing, from Old English -ing, from Old English -tūn, from Old English tūn, from Proto-West Germanic tūn, from Proto-Germanic tūną, from Gaulish dunum — smoke; mist, haze.
fingerspelling (English): The practice of representing the letters of the...
Definitions
- The practice of representing the letters of the...
Ancestry of “fingerspelling”, step by step
fingerspelling traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via English spelling
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | spelling | present participle of spell; The act, practice,... |
| 2 | English | -ing | Used to form gerunds, a type of verbal nouns,... |
| 3 | Old English | -ing | Forming nouns from verbs, indicating action,... |
| 4 | Old English | -tūn | homestead, village, town |
| 5 | Old English | tūn | enclosure, yard; place; dwelling |
| 6 | Proto-West Germanic | tūn | fence |
| 7 | Proto-Germanic | tūną | fence; enclosure |
| 8 | Gaulish | dunum | fort; hill, hillfort |
| 9 | Proto-Celtic | dūnom | stronghold, rampart |
| 10 | Proto-Indo-European | dʰewh₂- | smoke; mist, haze |
via English finger
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | finger | A slender jointed extremity of the human hand, (often) exclusive of the thumb, and the corresponding part, irrespective of including a thumb, in many other animals |
| 2 | German | Finger | finger |
| 3 | Middle High German | vinger | finger |
| 4 | Old High German | fingar | finger |
| 5 | Proto-West Germanic | fingr | finger |
| 6 | Proto-Germanic | fingraz | finger |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | penkʷrós | — |