Where does “millimeter” come from?
Millimeter comes from French millimètre, from French mètre, from Ancient Greek μέτρον meaning "measure," combined with the Latin suffix -are.
millimeter (English): An SI/MKS unit of measure, the length of 1/1000...
Definitions
- An SI/MKS unit of measure, the length of 1/1000...
Ancestry of “millimeter”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | French | millimètre | millimetre |
| 2 | French | -mètre | -meter |
| 3 | Ancient Greek | μέτρον | something used to measure: measure, rule, weight;... |
| 4 | Ancient Greek | -τρον | Forms instrument nouns |
| 5 | Proto-Hellenic | -tron | Forms instrument nouns from verb stems |
| 6 | Proto-Indo-European | -trom | Forms nouns denoting a tool or instrument |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | -tḗr | Derives agent nouns from verbs, denoting someone... |