Where does “muskball” come from?
muskball (English) comes from English Musk, from Middle English muske, from Old French musc, from Latin mūscus, from Ancient Greek μόσχος, from Middle Persian mwšk', from Sanskrit मुष्क, from Sanskrit मूष् — mouse.
muskball (English): A ball containing musk as a perfuming sachet
Definitions
- A ball containing musk as a perfuming sachet
Ancestry of “muskball”, step by step
muskball traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via English Musk
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | Musk | A greasy secretion with a powerful odour, produced in a glandular sac of the male musk deer and used in the manufacture of perfumes |
| 2 | Middle English | muske | musk; A kind of plant juice |
| 3 | Old French | musc | — |
| 4 | Latin | mūscus | moss |
| 5 | Ancient Greek | μόσχος | young shoot or twig; leafstalk, petiole; calf,... |
| 6 | Middle Persian | mwšk' | musk |
| 7 | Sanskrit | मुष्क | testicle, scrotum |
| 8 | Sanskrit | मूष् | mouse; "stealer", "thief" |
| 9 | Proto-Indo-European | múh₂s | mouse |
via English Ball
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | Ball | surname |
| 2 | Middle English | bal | A ball; A rounded or spherical lump or bump,... |
| 3 | Old English | beall | ball |
| 4 | English | beal | A small inflammatory tumor; pustule; To gather... |
| 5 | Old English | hyll | hill |
| 6 | Albanian | hulli | furrow |
| 7 | Proto-Germanic | hulliz | hill |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | kl̥Hnís | hill |
| 9 | Proto-Indo-European | kelH- | to rise, to be tall; hill |