Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “megahertz” come from?

megahertz (English) comes from English Hertz, from German Hertz, from German Herz, from Middle High German herze, from Old High German herza, from Proto-West Germanic hertā, from Proto-Germanic hertô, from Proto-Indo-European ḱḗr — heart.

megahertz (English): A unit equal to one million cycles per second

Definitions

  1. A unit equal to one million cycles per second

Ancestry of “megahertz”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1EnglishHertzAlternative letter-case form of hertz
2GermanHertzhertz; Obsolete spelling of Herz
3GermanHerzheart; hearts; sweetheart, darling
4Middle High Germanherze—
5Old High Germanherzaheart
6Proto-West Germanichertāheart
7Proto-Germanichertôheart
8Proto-Indo-Europeanḱḗrheart

Words derived from “megahertz”

  • multimegahertz
  • megahurt
  • submegahertz
Every word from Proto-Indo-European ḱḗr →