Where does “jet-black” come from?
jet-black (English) comes from English jet, from French jet, from Old French get, from Vulgar Latin iectus, from Latin iactus, from Latin iacere, from Latin iaceō, from Latin -eō — Creates transitive imperfective verbs from roots.
jet-black (English): Coal-black; the blackest black
Definitions
- Coal-black; the blackest black
Ancestry of “jet-black”, step by step
jet-black traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via English jet
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | jet | A collimated stream, spurt or flow of liquid or... |
| 2 | French | jet | throw; spurt, spout, jet; jet |
| 3 | Old French | get | — |
| 4 | Vulgar Latin | iectus | — |
| 5 | Latin | iactus | thrown, having been thrown, hurled, having been... |
| 6 | Latin | iacere | present active infinitive of iaciō; second-person... |
| 7 | Latin | iaceō | to lie prostrate, lie down; recline |
| 8 | Latin | -eō | — |
| 9 | Proto-Italic | -ēō | Forms stative verbs, indicating a state of being;... |
| 10 | Proto-Italic | -ējō | — |
| 11 | Proto-Indo-European | -éh₁yeti | Thematicization of the athematic stative verbal... |
| 12 | Proto-Indo-European | -yeti | Creates transitive imperfective verbs from roots |
via English Black
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | Black | Alternative letter-case form of black |
| 2 | Old French | blanc | white |
| 3 | Late Latin | blancus | white |
| 4 | Frankish | blank | bright; gleaming, white, blinding; bright,... |
| 5 | Proto-Germanic | *blank | — |
| 6 | Proto-Germanic | blankaz | bright, shining, white, gleaming, blinding |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | bhleg- | to shine, white; to shine, burn, scorch |