Where does “mistletoe” come from?
Mistletoe comes from Middle English mistelto, from Old English mistil-tān, where tān derives from Proto-Germanic tainaz, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European sed-.
mistletoe (English): Any of several hemiparasitic evergreen plants of...
Definitions
- Any of several hemiparasitic evergreen plants of...
Ancestry of “mistletoe”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | Middle English | mistelto | European mistletoe; hardened berries of mistletoe... |
| 2 | Old English | misteltān | — |
| 3 | Old English | tān | sprig, twig; twig, switch |
| 4 | Proto-West Germanic | *tain | — |
| 5 | Proto-Germanic | tainaz | rod; twig; straw; lot |
| 6 | Proto-Indo-European | doynos | — |
Words derived from “mistletoe”