Where does “kitty-cornered” come from?
kitty-cornered (English) comes from English cater-corner, from English cater-cornered, from English cater, from Middle English catour, from Middle English acatour, from Old French acheter, from Vulgar Latin accaptare, from Latin acceptō — in.
kitty-cornered (English): Synonym of kitty-corner
Ancestry of “kitty-cornered”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | English | cater-corner | Of or pertaining to something at a diagonal to... |
| 2 | English | cater-cornered | Alternative form of cater-corner |
| 3 | English | cater | To provide, "particularly:"; Synonym of acater:... |
| 4 | Middle English | catour | acater, provisioner |
| 5 | Middle English | acatour | acater |
| 6 | Old French | acheter | to purchase; buy |
| 7 | Vulgar Latin | accaptare | — |
| 8 | Latin | acceptō | — |
| 9 | Latin | accipiō | — |
| 10 | Latin | ad- | to; usually prefixed to verbs, in which cases it... |
| 11 | Latin | īn- | — |
| 12 | Latin | în | — |
| 13 | Latin | en | lookǃ beholdǃ; reallyǃ?; come onǃ |
| 14 | Proto-Italic | en | in |
| 15 | Proto-Indo-European | h₁én | in |