Where does “peanut” come from?
Peanut comes from English pea and nut, with nut deriving from Middle English nute, Old French note, and Latin nux meaning hard-shelled fruit.
peanut (English): A legume resembling a nut, the fruit of the plant...
Definitions
- A legume resembling a nut, the fruit of the plant...
Ancestry of “peanut”, step by step
peanut traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via English pea
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | pea | Any of certain plants of the family Fabaceae: Pisum sativum and others |
| 2 | English | pease | To make peace between (conflicting people, states etc.); to reconcile |
| 3 | Middle English | pese | A pea; The leguminous plant Pisum sativum;... |
| 4 | Old English | pise | pea |
| 5 | Late Latin | pisa | nominative plural of pisum; accusative plural of... |
| 6 | Latin | pīsum | pea, pease |
| 7 | Ancient Greek | πίσον | Quoted by comic poet Alexis; pea, pease, seed of... |
| 8 | Ancient Greek | πίσος | pea, pease, seed of "Pisum sativum" |
via English nut
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | nut | A hard-shelled seed; A piece of metal, usually... |
| 2 | Middle English | nute | — |
| 3 | Old English | hnutu | nut |
| 4 | Proto-West Germanic | hnut | nut |
| 5 | Proto-Germanic | hnuts | nut |
| 6 | Proto-Indo-European | knew- | to scrape; scratch; rub; to scratch; scrape; rub |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | ken- | to arise, begin |