Where does “gnome-napping” come from?
gnome-napping (English) comes from English kidnapping, from English kidnap, from English NAP, from French napper, from French -er, from English -er, from Middle English -er, from Old French -er — he, she.
gnome-napping (English): A prank in which one steals a garden gnome and then either leaves it posed in a public place or photographs it in front of tourist locations
Definitions
- A prank in which one steals a garden gnome and then either leaves it posed in a public place or photographs it in front of tourist locations
Ancestry of “gnome-napping”, step by step
gnome-napping traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via English kidnapping
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | kidnapping | present participle of kidnap; The crime of taking... |
| 2 | English | kidnap | To seize and detain a person unlawfully;... |
| 3 | English | NAP | Acronym of non-aggression principle; Acronym of... |
| 4 | French | napper | to cover |
| 5 | French | -er | Forms infinitives of first-conjugation verbs |
| 6 | English | -er | A person or thing that does an action indicated... |
| 7 | Middle English | -er | agentive suffix; agent noun suffix |
| 8 | Old French | -er | Alternative form of -ier, verbal suffix;... |
| 9 | Latin | -āre | first conjugation |
| 10 | Proto-Italic | -āō | Forms primarily denominative verbs |
| 11 | Proto-Indo-European | -eh₂yéti | Creates iterative/ frequentative/ intensive... |
| 12 | Proto-Indo-European | -yéti | Creates intransitive, often deponent,... |
| 13 | Proto-Indo-European | yé- | — |
| 14 | Chichewa | iye | he, she |
via English GNOME
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | GNOME | An open-source, free software computer desktop environment for Unix operating systems |
| 2 | Ancient Greek | γνώμη | means of knowing: sign, mark; mind, intelligence;... |
| 3 | Ancient Greek | γιγνώσκω | I am aware of; I perceive, observe, know, learn;... |
| 4 | Proto-Indo-European | ǵn̥h₃sḱéti | to recognise |
| 5 | Proto-Indo-European | ǵneh₃- | to know |