Where does “hourglass” come from?
Hourglass comes from English hour, from Middle English oure, from Latin hora meaning season or time of day, from Proto-Indo-European kāro-.
hourglass (English): A clock made of two glass vessels connected by a...
Definitions
- A clock made of two glass vessels connected by a...
Ancestry of “hourglass”, step by step
hourglass traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via English hour
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | hour | A time period of sixty minutes; one twenty-fourth... |
| 2 | Middle English | houre | hour; A time, occasion, or moment; A canonical... |
| 3 | Old French | houre | hour; time; moment to do something |
| 4 | Latin | hōra | hour |
| 5 | Ancient Greek | ὥρα | any defined period of time; season; climate |
| 6 | Proto-Hellenic | *worā | — |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | wēr- | true |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | wer- | to burn; to cover, heed, notice; squirrel |
via English glass
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | glass | An amorphous solid, often transparent substance... |
| 2 | Scottish Gaelic | glas | green; grey; lock |
| 3 | Middle Irish | glas | — |
| 4 | Old Irish | glas | green, greenish; blue, green-blue, grey-blue; the... |
| 5 | Proto-Celtic | glastos | green, blue |
| 6 | Proto-Indo-European | ǵʰl̥h₃stós | — |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | ǵʰelh₃- | to flourish; green, yellow |