Where does “prairie” come from?
Prairie comes from French prairie, derived from Old French praerie, ultimately from Latin -arium and -arius suffixes, with roots tracing through Latin -alis and Proto-Indo-European -li- and -yós.
prairie (English): An extensive area of relatively flat grassland...
Definitions
- An extensive area of relatively flat grassland...
Ancestry of “prairie”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | French | prairie | meadow, grassland, pasture, prairie |
| 2 | Old French | praerie | meadow |
| 3 | Portuguese | prataria | silverware; cutlery; plates, dishes collectively |
| 4 | Portuguese | prata | silver; one hundred cents of current currency... |
| 5 | Old Portuguese | prata | silver |
| 6 | Vulgar Latin | platta | metal plate |
| 7 | Latin | plattus | flattened |
| 8 | Ancient Greek | πλατύς | wide, broad; flat, level; broad-shouldered |
| 9 | Proto-Indo-European | pléth₂us | flat, broad |
| 10 | Proto-Indo-European | pleth₂- | flat |