Where does “play” come from?
Play comes from Middle English pleȝen, derived from Latin placitum, the past participle of placere meaning to please or be acceptable.
play (English): To act in a manner such that one has fun; to...
Definitions
- To act in a manner such that one has fun; to...
Ancestry of “play”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Middle English | pleye | Happiness, mirth, jolliness, or gaiety; Fun,... |
| 2 | Old English | pleġa | exercise |
| 3 | Proto-West Germanic | plegō | care; an exercise; a game |
| 4 | Proto-West Germanic | -ō | Creates adverbs from adjectives; Creates agent... |
| 5 | Proto-Germanic | -ô | -ly; Forms agent nouns, often from the zero-grade... |
| 6 | Proto-Indo-European | -ō | Derives nouns from roots |