Where does “pontoon” come from?
Pontoon comes from Old French ponton, from Latin ponto, ultimately derived from Proto-Indo-European pent-, the root meaning to stretch or extend.
pontoon (English): A flat-bottomed boat used as a support for a...
Definitions
- A flat-bottomed boat used as a support for a...
Ancestry of “pontoon”, step by step
pontoon traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via Middle French ponton
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Middle French | ponton | — |
| 2 | Old French | ponton | — |
| 3 | Latin | pontō | ferryboat |
| 4 | Latin | pōns | A bridge, a construction or natural feature that spans a divide |
| 5 | Latin | fractus | broken, shattered, having been broken;... |
| 6 | Latin | frangere | second-person singular future passive indicative... |
| 7 | Latin | frangō | to break, shatter |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | bʰrēǵ- | to shine, shimmer |
via English vingt-un
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | vingt-un | — |
| 2 | English | vingt-et-un | The card game pontoon |
| 3 | French | vingt-et-un | twenty-one |