Where does “payscale” come from?

payscale (English) comes from English pay, from Middle English payen, from Old French paiier, from Medieval Latin pacare, from Latin pācāre, from Latin pāx, from Proto-Italic pāks, from Proto-Indo-European péh₂ḱ-s — to join, to attach; agreement, settlement.

payscale (English): A pay grade

Definitions

  1. A pay grade

Ancestry of “payscale”, step by step

payscale traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.

via English pay

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1EnglishpayTo give money or other compensation to in...
2Middle Englishpayenpagan
3Old Frenchpaiierto pay
4Medieval Latinpacareto settle, satisfy; present active infinitive of...
5Latinpācāre
6Latinpāxpeace
7Proto-Italicpākspeace
8Proto-Indo-Europeanpéh₂ḱ-speace
9Proto-Indo-Europeanpeh₂ḱ-to join, to attach; agreement, settlement

via English scale

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1EnglishscaleA ladder; a series of steps; a means of...
2Middle Englishscaleflake
3Latinscālaladder
4Latinscanderethird-person plural perfect active indicative of...
5Latinscandōto climb, ascend, mount
6Proto-Indo-Europeansḱend-to jump up, ascend
Every word from Proto-Indo-European peh₂ḱ-Every word from Proto-Indo-European péh₂ḱ-sEvery word from Proto-Italic pāks