Where does “letterpress” come from?
Letterpress comes from English letter and English press, with letter from Latin littera, ultimately tracing through Latin -arius and Latin premere meaning to press.
letterpress (English): The printing process in which ink is applied to...
Definitions
- The printing process in which ink is applied to...
Ancestry of “letterpress”, step by step
letterpress traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via English press
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | press | A device used to apply pressure to an item; A... |
| 2 | Middle English | presse | throng, crowd, clothespress |
| 3 | Old French | presse | — |
| 4 | Old French | presser | to press |
| 5 | Latin | pressāre | — |
| 6 | Latin | premere | second-person singular future passive indicative... |
| 7 | Latin | premo | I press; I pursue |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | pres- | to press |
| 9 | Proto-Indo-European | per- | before, in front; first; to go through |
| 10 | Proto-Indo-European | pr̥tós | passed , crossed |
via English letter
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | letter | A symbol in an alphabet; A written or printed... |
| 2 | Middle English | letter | — |
| 3 | Old French | letre | letter |
| 4 | Latin | littera | a letter of the alphabet; handwriting; letter,... |
| 5 | Latin | lītera | — |
| 6 | Old Latin | leitera | — |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | h₂leyH- | to smear |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | leyh₂- | to die, disapear; to avoid, elude, decline,... |