Where does “mouse potato” come from?
mouse potato (English) comes from English couch potato, from English Couch, from Middle English couche, from Old French couche, from Old French couchier, from Latin collocō, from Latin cōn-, from Latin cum — to bend; curve; arch; vault; to bow, bend, arch,...
mouse potato (English): A person who spends excessive amounts of time...
Definitions
- A person who spends excessive amounts of time...
Ancestry of “mouse potato”, step by step
mouse potato traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via English couch potato
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | couch potato | A person who spends a lot of time sitting or... |
| 2 | English | Couch | An item of furniture, often upholstered, for the comfortable seating of more than one person; a sofa |
| 3 | Middle English | couche | A bed; A bedroom; the room where one sleeps in; A... |
| 4 | Old French | couche | — |
| 5 | Old French | couchier | to go to bed; to have sex; bedtime |
| 6 | Latin | collocō | to place, put, set in order, assign, arrange |
| 7 | Latin | cōn- | Used in compounds to indicate a being or bringing together of several objects |
| 8 | Latin | cum | with, along with; at; -fold |
| 9 | Old Latin | com | Alternative form of cum |
| 10 | Proto-Italic | kom | with, along, at |
| 11 | Proto-Indo-European | ḱóm | beside, near, by, with |
| 12 | Proto-Indo-European | ḱe | Deictic particle, here; Post-positional... |
| 13 | Middle English | kyt | — |
| 14 | German | kitt | putty certain kinds of cement used for fixing e.g. window panes |
| 15 | Old High German | kuti | — |
| 16 | Proto-West Germanic | kwidu | gum, resin |
| 17 | Proto-Germanic | kweduz | resin |
| 18 | Proto-Indo-European | gʷet- | resin, gum; to say, speak |
| 19 | Proto-Indo-European | gū- | to bend; curve; arch; vault; to bow, bend, arch,... |