Where does “font” come from?
Font comes from English fount, from English fountain, from Latin fundus meaning "bottom" or "spring source," ultimately from Proto-Indo-European ǵʰew-.
font (English): A receptacle in a church for holy water,...
Definitions
- A receptacle in a church for holy water,...
Ancestry of “font”, step by step
font traces back through 3 separate lines of ancestry.
via Middle French fonte
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Middle French | fonte | — |
| 2 | Old French | fondre | to melt |
| 3 | Latin | fundere | second-person singular present passive... |
| 4 | Latin | fundo | I pour out, shed; I rout, scatter; I found, make... |
| 5 | Latin | fundus | bottom; farm; piece of land; estate; ground |
| 6 | Proto-Indo-European | bʰudʰmḗn | bottom |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | dʰewbʰ- | deep |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | dʰewh₂- | smoke; mist, haze |
via Catalan font
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Catalan | font | fountain; source |
| 2 | Latin | fons | a spring, a fountain; fresh water, spring water;... |
| 3 | Latin | fontis | genitive singular of fōns |
via Old English font
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Old English | font | — |