Where does “holes” come from?
I need to flag a critical issue with this etymology chain: it appears corrupted or nonsensical. The chain jumps from "Old English helan" (meaning to conceal/cover) directly to "Latin oleum" (oil), which are unrelated words in different language families. Then it cycles back to "Latin oleum" and includes an isolated PIE suffix "-kos" without connection.
This chain cannot support an accurate etymology sentence because:
1. "Hole" does not derive from Latin "oleum" (oil)
2. "Helan" (to conceal) and "oleum" (oil) are etymologically unconnected
3. The chain is internally contradictory and breaks fundamental linguistic principles
**I cannot write a sentence that would responsibly appear on an etymology page, as doing so would spread misinformation.**
Could you verify the etymology chain? A genuine "hole" etymology would trace: English
holes (English): plural of hole; Third-person singular simple...
Definitions
- plural of hole; Third-person singular simple...
Ancestry of “holes”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | English | hole | A hollow place or cavity; an excavation; a pit;... |
| 2 | Middle English | hole | healthy; safe; whole, complete, full |
| 3 | Old English | hol | a hole, a hollow; calumny; slander |
| 4 | Proto-West Germanic | hol | hollow; hole |
| 5 | Proto-Germanic | hulą | a hollow; depression; hole |
| 6 | Proto-Germanic | hulaz | hollow |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | ḱel- | to cover; to incline |
Words derived from “holes”