Where does “playmate” come from?
Playmate comes from English play, from Middle English pleȝen, ultimately from Latin placere meaning "to please" or "to be agreeable."
playmate (English): A companion for someone to play with; A female...
Definitions
- A companion for someone to play with; A female...
Ancestry of “playmate”, step by step
playmate traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via English maté
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | maté | An evergreen tree, Ilex paraquariensis, native to... |
| 2 | Middle English | mate | mate companion, comrade |
| 3 | Middle Low German | māte | — |
| 4 | Old Saxon | gimato | — |
| 5 | Proto-Germanic | gamatjô | — |
| 6 | Proto-Germanic | ga- | Indicates association or togetherness; co-;... |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | ḱóm | beside, near, by, with |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | ḱe | Deictic particle, here; Post-positional... |
| 9 | Middle English | kyt | — |
| 10 | German | kitt | putty certain kinds of cement used for fixing e.g. window panes |
| 11 | Old High German | kuti | — |
| 12 | Proto-West Germanic | kwidu | gum, resin |
| 13 | Proto-Germanic | kweduz | resin |
| 14 | Proto-Indo-European | gʷet- | resin, gum; to say, speak |
| 15 | Proto-Indo-European | gū- | to bend; curve; arch; vault; to bow, bend, arch,... |
via English play
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | play | To act in a manner such that one has fun; to... |
| 2 | Middle English | pleye | Happiness, mirth, jolliness, or gaiety; Fun,... |
| 3 | Old English | pleġa | exercise |
| 4 | Proto-West Germanic | plegō | care; an exercise; a game |
| 5 | Proto-West Germanic | -ō | Creates adverbs from adjectives; Creates agent... |
| 6 | Proto-Germanic | -ô | -ly; Forms agent nouns, often from the zero-grade... |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | -ō | Derives nouns from roots |