Where does “longworm” come from?
longworm (English) comes from English long, from English longitude, from Old French longitude, from Latin longitūdō, from Latin longus, from Latin -ē, from Latin dis-, from Latin calceus — small stone, pebble; gravel, rubble.
Ancestry of “longworm”, step by step
longworm traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via English long
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | long | Having much distance from one terminating point... |
| 2 | English | longitude | Angular distance measured west or east of the... |
| 3 | Old French | longitude | — |
| 4 | Latin | longitūdō | length, longitude; longness |
| 5 | Latin | longus | far, long; extended, prolonged; long; tedious,... |
| 6 | Latin | -ē | ly; used to form adverbs from adjectives |
| 7 | Latin | dis- | asunder, apart, in two; reversal, removal;... |
| 8 | Latin | calceus | shoe |
| 9 | Latin | calx | limestone; chalk; the finish line |
| 10 | Ancient Greek | χάλιξ | small stone, pebble; gravel, rubble |
via English Worm
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | Worm | A generally tubular invertebrate of the annelid phylum; an earthworm |
| 2 | Middle English | worm | A worm or similar small wormlike animal that... |
| 3 | Old English | wyrm | creeping insect; maggot, grub, worm; snake,... |
| 4 | Old English | lēah | meadow; clearing with a pigsty; woodland,... |
| 5 | Proto-West Germanic | lauh | clearing; meadow |
| 6 | Proto-Germanic | lauhaz | clearing; meadow |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | lówkos | clearing; open space, clearing; field, meadow |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | lewḱ- | lynx |
| 9 | Proto-Indo-European | lewk- | bright; to shine; to see |