Where does “milktree” come from?

milktree (English) comes from English milk, from Middle English milk, from Old English meolc, from Proto-West Germanic meluk, from Proto-Germanic meluks, from Proto-Indo-European h₂melǵ- — to milk; milk.

milktree (English): Any of the latex-producing flowering plants in the genus Sapium

Definitions

  1. Any of the latex-producing flowering plants in the genus Sapium

Ancestry of “milktree”, step by step

milktree traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.

via English milk

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1EnglishmilkA white liquid produced by the mammary glands of...
2Middle Englishmilkmilk
3Old Englishmeolcmilk
4Proto-West Germanicmelukmilk
5Proto-Germanicmeluksmilk
6Proto-Indo-Europeanh₂melǵ-to milk; milk

via English tree

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1EnglishtreeA perennial woody plant, not exactly defined, but...
2Middle EnglishtreA tree or a plant that resembles one
Every word from Proto-Indo-European h₂melǵ-