Where does “impale” come from?
Impale comes from Medieval Latin impalare, derived from Latin palus meaning stake, ultimately tracing to Proto-Indo-European peh₂ǵ- meaning to fasten or fix.
impale (English): To pierce with any long, pointed object; To...
Definitions
- To pierce with any long, pointed object; To...
Ancestry of “impale”, step by step
impale traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via French empaler
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | French | empaler | to impale |
| 2 | Italian | impalare | to impale; to stake, prop up |
| 3 | Spanish | empalar | to impale |
| 4 | Latin | impālāre | — |
| 5 | Latin | pālus | swamp, marsh, morass, bog, fen, pool |
| 6 | Proto-Italic | pākslos | — |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | peh₂ǵ-slos | — |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | peh₂ǵ- | to attach |
via Medieval Latin impalare
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Medieval Latin | impalare | — |