Where does “identikit” come from?
identikit (English) comes from English kit, from Middle English kyt, from German kitt, from Old High German kuti, from Proto-West Germanic kwidu, from Proto-Germanic kweduz, from Proto-Indo-European gʷet-, from Proto-Indo-European gū- — to bend; curve; arch; vault; to bow, bend, arch,...
identikit (English): A picture of a person, reconstructed from strips showing facial features selected to match witnesses' descriptions; used by the police to construct a likeness of a person sought for a crime
Definitions
- A picture of a person, reconstructed from strips showing facial features selected to match witnesses' descriptions; used by the police to construct a likeness of a person sought for a crime
Ancestry of “identikit”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | kit | A circular wooden vessel, made of hooped staves;... |
| 2 | Middle English | kyt | — |
| 3 | German | kitt | putty certain kinds of cement used for fixing e.g. window panes |
| 4 | Old High German | kuti | — |
| 5 | Proto-West Germanic | kwidu | gum, resin |
| 6 | Proto-Germanic | kweduz | resin |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | gʷet- | resin, gum; to say, speak |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | gū- | to bend; curve; arch; vault; to bow, bend, arch,... |