Where does “one-armed bandit” come from?
one-armed bandit (English) comes from English one-armed, from English armed, from English Arm, from Middle English arm, from Old English earm, from Proto-West Germanic arm, from Proto-Germanic armaz, from Proto-Indo-European h₂ermos — to fit, to fix, to put together.
one-armed bandit (English): A gaming machine having a long arm-like handle at one side that a player pulls down to make reels spin; the player wins money or tokens when certain combinations of symbols line up on these reels
Definitions
- A gaming machine having a long arm-like handle at one side that a player pulls down to make reels spin; the player wins money or tokens when certain combinations of symbols line up on these reels
Ancestry of “one-armed bandit”, step by step
one-armed bandit traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via English one-armed
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | one-armed | Having only one arm |
| 2 | English | armed | Equipped, especially with a weapon; Prepared for... |
| 3 | English | Arm | Abbreviation of Armenian |
| 4 | Middle English | arm | arm; poor; miserable, wretched |
| 5 | Old English | earm | arm; poor, miserable |
| 6 | Proto-West Germanic | arm | arm; poor, miserable; pitiful, pitiable |
| 7 | Proto-Germanic | armaz | arm; poor, miserable; pitiful, pitiable |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | h₂ermos | — |
| 9 | Proto-Indo-European | h₂er- | to fit, to fix, to put together |
via English bandit
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | bandit | One who robs others in a lawless area, especially... |
| 2 | Italian | bandito | bandit, outlaw; past participle of bandire |
| 3 | Italian | bandire | to announce; to ban; to banish |
| 4 | Latin | bannio | I proclaim; I proscribe |
| 5 | Frankish | bannijan | — |
| 6 | Proto-Germanic | bannaną | to proclaim, to order; to summon; to ban |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | bʰeh₂- | to shine, glow light; to speak, say |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | bʰeh₂-s-ri- | — |