Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “mainmastman” come from?

mainmastman (English) comes from English mainmast, from English Mast, from French masse, from Old French mace, from Vulgar Latin mattia, from Latin mateola, from Latin -ulus, from Proto-Italic -olos — Forms agent nouns from verbal roots.

mainmastman (English): A sailor assigned to the mainmast

Definitions

  1. A sailor assigned to the mainmast

Ancestry of “mainmastman”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1EnglishmainmastThe chief, and tallest mast of a sailing ship...
2EnglishMast—
3Frenchmassea paste, a dough; large amount or quantity of...
4Old Frenchmacemace
5Vulgar Latinmattia—
6LatinmateolaThe meaning of this term is uncertain....
7Latin-ulusUsed to form a diminutive of a noun, indicating...
8Proto-Italic-olos—
9Proto-Italic-elos—
10Proto-Indo-European-e-lós—
11Proto-Indo-European-lósForms agent nouns from verbal roots
Every word from Proto-Indo-European -lós →