Where does “ledger” come from?
ledger (English) comes from Old French legier, from Vulgar Latin leviarius, from Latin levius, from Latin lēvis, from Proto-Italic leɣʷis, from Proto-Indo-European h₁léngʰus, from Proto-Indo-European h₁lengʷʰ- — light.
ledger (English): A book for keeping notes, especially one for...
Definitions
- A book for keeping notes, especially one for...
Ancestry of “ledger”, step by step
ledger traces back through 3 separate lines of ancestry.
via Old French legier
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Old French | legier | light; slight |
| 2 | Vulgar Latin | leviarius | light |
| 3 | Latin | levius | comparative degree of leviter |
| 4 | Latin | lēvis | light, not heavy |
| 5 | Proto-Italic | leɣʷis | light |
| 6 | Proto-Indo-European | h₁léngʰus | lightweight |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | h₁lengʷʰ- | light |
via Middle English liggere
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Middle English | liggere | A large breviary as a book that "lies" in situ |
| 2 | Middle English | -ere | er |
| 3 | Old English | -ere | masculine agent suffix, originally applied only... |
| 4 | Proto-West Germanic | -ārī | -er |
| 5 | Proto-Germanic | -ārijaz | -er |
| 6 | Latin | -ārius | er |
| 7 | Proto-Italic | *-āzios | Forms relational adjectives to nouns (and rarely numerals) |