Where does “playpen” come from?
playpen (English) comes from English pen, from English penetration, from Middle English penetracioun, from Old French penetracïon, from Latin penetrātiō, from Latin -tiō, from Latin dissertātiō, from Latin dissertus — small stone, pebble; gravel, rubble.
playpen (English): An enclosure for children to play in
Definitions
- An enclosure for children to play in
Ancestry of “playpen”, step by step
playpen traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via English pen
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | pen | An enclosure used to contain domesticated... |
| 2 | English | penetration | The act of penetrating something; Specifically,... |
| 3 | Middle English | penetracioun | — |
| 4 | Old French | penetracïon | penetration (act, instance of penetrating) |
| 5 | Latin | penetrātiō | piercing, penetration |
| 6 | Latin | -tiō | tion, -ation, -ing |
| 7 | Latin | dissertātiō | (spoken) dissertation, discourse, disquisition |
| 8 | Latin | dissertus | arranged, disposed; explained |
| 9 | Latin | disserere | second-person singular future passive indicative... |
| 10 | Latin | dis- | asunder, apart, in two; reversal, removal;... |
| 11 | Latin | calceus | shoe |
| 12 | Latin | calx | limestone; chalk; the finish line |
| 13 | Ancient Greek | χάλιξ | small stone, pebble; gravel, rubble |
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 |