Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “grappling” come from?

Grappling comes from Middle English grapplen, from Old English græpplian, from Old French grappe, from Frankish krappō, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European roots meaning to seize or grip.

grappling (English): An act in which something is grappled or grappled...

Definitions

  1. An act in which something is grappled or grappled...

Ancestry of “grappling”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1EnglishgrappleTo seize something and hold it firmly; To wrestle...
2EnglishgrabTo grip suddenly; to seize; to clutch; To make a...
3English-leA frequentative suffix of verbs, indicating...
4Middle English-el—
5Old French-elSuffix that usually denotes a masculine noun
6Latin-ellusAlternative form of -ulus; "forming masculine...
7Latin-ulusUsed to form a diminutive of a noun, indicating...
8Proto-Italic-olos—
9Proto-Italic-elos—
10Proto-Indo-European-e-lós—
11Proto-Indo-European-lósForms agent nouns from verbal roots
Every word from Proto-Indo-European -lós →