Where does “laughingstock” come from?
Laughingstock derives from English stock, Italian stoccata, Italian -ata suffix, Latin -ata suffix, Latin -are verb ending, Latin -aris adjective ending, Latin -alis suffix, and Proto-Indo-European klek-.
laughingstock (English): Alternative spelling of laughing stock
Definitions
- Alternative spelling of laughing stock
Ancestry of “laughingstock”, step by step
laughingstock traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via English stock
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | stock | A store or supply; The capital raised by a... |
| 2 | Italian | stoccata | hit with a sword, especially a tuck; thrust,... |
| 3 | Italian | stoccare | to stock; to strike or thrust with a tuck or... |
| 4 | Italian | stocco | tuck; A rapier, a sword; corn plant after cobs... |
| 5 | Middle Dutch | stōken | — |
| 6 | Old Dutch | stokon | — |
| 7 | Proto-Germanic | stukōną | to push, to thrust |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | (s)tewg- | to push, to hit |
| 9 | Proto-Indo-European | (s)tew- | to push, to hit |
via English laughing
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | laughing | The action of the verb to laugh; present... |
| 2 | Middle English | laughynge | Laughing; the making of laughs |
| 3 | Middle English | laughen | To laugh; to break out in laughter or laughing;... |
| 4 | Old English | hlæhhan | — |
| 5 | Proto-West Germanic | hlahhjan | to laugh |
| 6 | Proto-Germanic | hlahjaną | to laugh |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | klek- | to laugh, cackle |