Where does “heartwood” come from?
Heartwood comes from English heart and wood, where heart derives from Middle English herte, Old English heorte, and Proto-Indo-European ḱḗr meaning heart or innermost part.
heartwood (English): The wood nearer the heart of a stem or branch,...
Definitions
- The wood nearer the heart of a stem or branch,...
Ancestry of “heartwood”, step by step
heartwood traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via English Wood
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | Wood | An English topographic surname for someone who lived in or near a wood |
| 2 | English | Frog | Alternative form of frog |
| 3 | Portuguese | froco | flock |
| 4 | Latin | floccus | tuft, wisp of wool |
| 5 | Frankish | flokko | down, wool, flock |
| 6 | Proto-Germanic | *flukkô | — |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | plewk- | to fly, flow, run; to splash, to flap with hands |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | plew- | to fly, flow, run |