Where does “fount” come from?
Fount comes from Middle French fonte (a spring or source of water), from Latin fons (spring), from the root of Latin fundus (bottom), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European ǵʰew- (to pour).
fount (English): Something from which water flows; A device from...
Definitions
- Something from which water flows; A device from...
Ancestry of “fount”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | font | A receptacle in a church for holy water,... |
| 2 | Middle French | fonte | — |
| 3 | Old French | fondre | to melt |
| 4 | Latin | fundere | second-person singular present passive... |
| 5 | Latin | fundo | I pour out, shed; I rout, scatter; I found, make... |
| 6 | Latin | fundus | bottom; farm; piece of land; estate; ground |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | bʰudʰmḗn | bottom |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | dʰewbʰ- | deep |
| 9 | Proto-Indo-European | dʰewh₂- | smoke; mist, haze |