Where does “ironclad” come from?
Ironclad combines English iron with English clad, where iron derives from Middle English iren, Old English īsen, Proto-Germanic īsarną, Proto-Celtic īsarnom, and Proto-Indo-European roots including gley-, gel-, and h₁ésh₂r̥.
ironclad (English): Covered with iron, steel, or some metal,...
Definitions
- Covered with iron, steel, or some metal,...
Ancestry of “ironclad”, step by step
ironclad traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via English iron
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | iron | A common, inexpensive metal, silvery grey when... |
| 2 | Ossetian | ирон | Ossetian person; an Ossetian, speaking the Iron... |
| 3 | Ossetian | ир | Ossetians, the Ossetian nation; the speakers of... |
| 4 | Proto-Iranian | wiHráh | man |
| 5 | Proto-Indo-Iranian | wiHrás | man |
| 6 | Proto-Indo-European | wiHrós | man; husband; warrior, hero |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | weyh₁- | to chase, pursue; to suppress, persecute |