Where does “long” come from?
Long comes from Middle English longen, from Old English lang, ultimately derived from Proto-Indo-European dl̥h₁gʰós.
long (English): Having much distance from one terminating point...
Definitions
- Having much distance from one terminating point...
Ancestry of “long”, step by step
long traces back through 3 separate lines of ancestry.
via English longitude
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | longitude | Angular distance measured west or east of the... |
| 2 | Old French | longitude | — |
| 3 | Latin | longitūdō | length, longitude; longness |
| 4 | Latin | longus | far, long; extended, prolonged; long; tedious,... |
| 5 | Latin | -ē | ly; used to form adverbs from adjectives |
| 6 | Latin | dis- | asunder, apart, in two; reversal, removal;... |
| 7 | Latin | calceus | shoe |
| 8 | Latin | calx | limestone; chalk; the finish line |
| 9 | Ancient Greek | χάλιξ | small stone, pebble; gravel, rubble |