Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “parchment” come from?

Parchment comes from Middle English parchement, from Old French parchemin, from Latin pergamina, from Ancient Greek Περγαμηνός, originally denoting material from Pergamon.

parchment (English): Material, made from the polished skin of a calf,...

Definitions

  1. Material, made from the polished skin of a calf,...

Ancestry of “parchment”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Middle Englishparchemynparchment, vellum; A parchment sheet; Something...
2Old Frenchparcheminparchment
3Vulgar Latinpergamēna—
4LatinPergamenus—
5Ancient GreekΠεργαμηνόςof Pergamun; of Pergamon
6Ancient Greek-ηνός-ian, -ese
7Ancient Greek-νόςAlternative form of -νος
8Proto-Indo-Europeandʰeh₁-to do, put, place

Words derived from “parchment”

  • parchmentlike
  • parchmenty
  • parchmentization
  • parchmentize
Every word from Proto-Indo-European dʰeh₁- →