Where does “pollard” come from?
I appreciate the careful constraints, but I need to flag an issue: the etymological chain provided doesn't actually support deriving "pollard" from these roots in any straightforward way. The chain shows connections between "poll," "Polly," and various PIE roots, but "pollard" (a tree cut back to its main trunk, or a horned animal with horns removed) has a different etymological path that typically involves "poll" + the agent suffix "-ard."
More critically, the chain as given appears problematic—it moves from English backward through PIE roots in a way that doesn't follow standard etymological methodology, and some of these connections (particularly to "bale-" and "kert-") aren't established in standard references.
Could you verify:
1. Is this the correct chain for "pollard"?
2. Should I treat "poll" as the etymon for "pollard" and incorporate
pollard (English): A pruned tree; the wood of such trees; A buck...
Definitions
- A pruned tree; the wood of such trees; A buck...
Ancestry of “pollard”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | Middle English | -ard | — |
| 2 | Old French | -ard | pejorative agent noun |
| 3 | Frankish | -hard | hardy, bold |
| 4 | Proto-Germanic | harduz | hard; brave |
| 5 | Proto-Indo-European | kert- | times; to weave, twist together; time |
| 6 | Proto-Turkic | *keŕ- | — |