Where does “keynote” come from?
Keynote derives from English key and English note, which comes from Latin nota, the feminine past participle of notare meaning "to mark," ultimately from Latin noscere meaning "to know."
keynote (English): The note on which a musical key is based; the...
Definitions
- The note on which a musical key is based; the...
Ancestry of “keynote”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | English | Note | — |
| 2 | Middle English | note | note; Alternative form of not |
| 3 | Old English | notu | use; enjoyment; profit, advantage, utility |
| 4 | Proto-Germanic | nutō | use, profit, yield |
| 5 | Proto-Indo-European | newd- | to seize; grasp; use; to grasp, seize, use; to... |
Words derived from “keynote”