Where does “inch” come from?
Inch comes from Old English ynce, from Latin uncia, ultimately deriving from Proto-Indo-European óynos, meaning one.
inch (English): A unit of length equal to one twelfth of a foot,...
Definitions
- A unit of length equal to one twelfth of a foot,...
Ancestry of “inch”, step by step
inch traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via Middle English ynche
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Middle English | ynche | An inch; A tiny quantity |
| 2 | Old English | ynċe | inch |
| 3 | Germanic | *unciju | — |
| 4 | Latin | uncia | The twelfth part of something; twelfth; The... |
| 5 | Old French | lonce | lynx |
| 6 | Italian | lonza | loin of pork; a term used in the Middle Ages to... |
| 7 | Vulgar Latin | luncea | — |
| 8 | Latin | lynx | A lynx |
| 9 | Ancient Greek | λύγξ | lynx; hiccup |
| 10 | Latin | canadensis | Canadian |
| 11 | Latin | -ensis | Of or from |
| 12 | Latin | arvum | field; farm land |
| 13 | Latin | colō | to cultivate the land, till, tend, take care of a field or garden |
| 14 | Latin | quelō | — |
| 15 | Proto-Italic | kʷelō | to inhabit |
| 16 | Proto-Indo-European | kʷéleti | — |
| 17 | Proto-Indo-European | kʷel- | to turn |