Where does “herringbone” come from?
Herringbone comes from Middle English heringe boon, combining hering (herring, the fish) with bone, ultimately from Proto-Germanic bainą and Proto-Indo-European keres-.
herringbone (English): A bone of a herring; A zigzag pattern, especially...
Definitions
- A bone of a herring; A zigzag pattern, especially...
Ancestry of “herringbone”, step by step
herringbone traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via English Bône
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | Bône | now known as Annaba |
| 2 | Middle English | bon | bone |
| 3 | Old English | bān | bone, tusk; the bone of a limb |
| 4 | Arabic | بان | to separate, to become distinct, to sunder; to be... |
| 5 | Ottoman Turkish | بان | ban; keeper, tender, ward; ben tree, horseradish... |
| 6 | Ottoman Turkish | باڭ | — |
| 7 | Persian | بنگ | hashish, narcotic made from "Cannabis sativa";... |
| 8 | Middle Persian | 𐭡𐭭𐭢 | henbane |