Where does “loosehead” come from?
loosehead (English) comes from English loose, from English lose, from German Nikolaus, from Latin Nīcolāus, from Ancient Greek Νικόλαος, from Ancient Greek λᾱός, from Proto-Hellenic lāwós, from Proto-Indo-European leh₂wos — to bark, howl; to be concealed.
loosehead (English): prop who plays on the left hand side of the front row of the scrum, such that in a scrum, their head is not tightly bound (unlike that of the tighthead)
Definitions
- prop who plays on the left hand side of the front row of the scrum, such that in a scrum, their head is not tightly bound (unlike that of the tighthead)
Ancestry of “loosehead”, step by step
loosehead traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via English loose
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | loose | To let loose, to free from restraints; To... |
| 2 | English | lose | To cause to cease to be in one's possession or... |
| 3 | German | Nikolaus | a representation of St. Nicholas; the day of 6th... |
| 4 | Latin | Nīcolāus | — |
| 5 | Ancient Greek | Νικόλαος | Nicolas |
| 6 | Ancient Greek | λᾱός | people; men; the people |
| 7 | Proto-Hellenic | lāwós | people, crowd |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | leh₂wos | people |
| 9 | Proto-Indo-European | leh₂- | to bark, howl; to be concealed |
via English head
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | head | The part of the body of an animal or human which... |
| 2 | English | -y | Added to nouns and adjectives to form adjectives... |
| 3 | Middle English | -y | Designates an adjective, in many cases formed by... |
| 4 | Old English | -iġ | -y, -ic |
| 5 | Proto-West Germanic | -g | Forms adjectives from nouns and verbs with a... |
| 6 | Proto-Germanic | -gaz | -y |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | -ḱos | -y, -ic |