Where does “foremast” come from?
I need to work through this chain carefully, but I notice there's a problem: the chain provided doesn't actually connect to "foremast." The chain shows: English fore → English fore- → Latin massa → Latin mattea → Ancient Greek μάσσω → PIE per-, which has nothing to do with "mast."
"Foremast" should derive from "fore-" (meaning front) + "mast" (the pole). The chain you've provided seems to trace a different word entirely (possibly related to "mass").
I cannot write an accurate one-sentence etymology for "foremast" based on this chain, as doing so would violate the rule "State only what the chain supports. Do not invent dates, cognates, or intermediate steps."
Could you verify the chain is correct for the headword "foremast"?
foremast (English): The mast nearest the bow, on a ship with more...
Definitions
- The mast nearest the bow, on a ship with more...
Ancestry of “foremast”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | English | Fore | A people of Papua New Guinea |
| 2 | German | Fahr | — |
| 3 | German | Fähre | ferry |
| 4 | Middle High German | verren | — |
| 5 | Old High German | ferrana | from afar |
| 6 | Old High German | ferro | afar; skipper |
| 7 | Proto-West Germanic | *ferrō | — |
| 8 | Proto-Germanic | ferrai | far, distant |
| 9 | Proto-Indo-European | per-nóy | — |
| 10 | Proto-Indo-European | per- | before, in front; first; to go through |
| 11 | Proto-Indo-European | pr̥tós | passed , crossed |
Words derived from “foremast”