Where does “hotline” come from?
Hotline derives from English line and English lind, from Old English līn, from Proto-Germanic hataz, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European kadʰ- and līno-.
hotline (English): A telephone line that is always staffed and able...
Definitions
- A telephone line that is always staffed and able...
Ancestry of “hotline”, step by step
hotline traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via English line
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | line | A path through two or more points (compare ‘segment’); a continuous mark, including as made by a pen; any path, curved or straight |
| 2 | Middle English | line | rope, cord; line, rule, ruler, measure; rule,... |
| 3 | Old English | līne | line, rope, cord; line, cable, rope, hawser,... |
| 4 | Proto-West Germanic | *līnā | line, chord, rope, string |
| 5 | Proto-Germanic | līnǭ | that which is made of flax; line, chord, rope,... |
| 6 | Proto-Germanic | līną | flax |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | līno- | flax |
via English hot
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | hot | Having a high temperature; Causing the air to be... |
| 2 | Middle English | hot | hot |
| 3 | Old English | hāt | hot, fervent, fervid, fierce |
| 4 | Old English | hātan | to promise; to command, promise; to command, call... |
| 5 | Hungarian | -an | Added to an adjective to create an adverb; Added... |
| 6 | Hungarian | -á | Used to form the third-person singular indicative... |
| 7 | Proto-Uralic | -i | — |