Where does “minelayer” come from?
minelayer (English) comes from English layer, from English lay, from English Lee, from Irish Laoi, from Middle Irish láed, from English loid, from English celluloid, from English cellulose — Forms agent nouns from verbal roots.
minelayer (English): A ship capable of laying mines
Definitions
- A ship capable of laying mines
Ancestry of “minelayer”, step by step
minelayer traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via English layer
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | layer | A single thickness of some material covering a... |
| 2 | English | lay | To place down in a position of rest, or in a... |
| 3 | English | Lee | for someone who lived near a meadow (the Anglo-Saxon for meadow being ley or leag) |
| 4 | Irish | Laoi | lay, song |
| 5 | Middle Irish | láed | — |
| 6 | English | loid | A lock-picking tool made from a piece of... |
| 7 | English | celluloid | Any of a variety of thermoplastics created from... |
| 8 | English | cellulose | A complex carbohydrate that forms the main... |
| 9 | French | cellulose | cellulose |
| 10 | French | cellule | cell; table cell |
| 11 | Latin | cellula | small room, especially that of a slave; humble... |
| 12 | Latin | -ulus | Used to form a diminutive of a noun, indicating... |
| 13 | Proto-Italic | -olos | — |
| 14 | Proto-Italic | -elos | Forms desubstantival and deadjectival diminutive nouns |
| 15 | Proto-Indo-European | -e-lós | — |
| 16 | Proto-Indo-European | -lós | Forms agent nouns from verbal roots |
via English Mine
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | Mine | Alternative letter-case form of mine "often used... |
| 2 | French | mine | mine; pencil lead; piledriver, scorcher |
| 3 | Breton | min | face of an animal; beak, muzzle |
| 4 | Italian | mina | mine, land mine; lead in pencils; mine which... |
| 5 | Latin | mina | A Greek weight equal to 100 drachmas; A Greek... |
| 6 | Gaulish | mēnā | ore, mine |
| 7 | Proto-Celtic | *meinis | ore, metal |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | mēy(H)nis | — |
| 9 | Proto-Indo-European | (s)mēy(H)- | to cut, hew |