Where does “pronghorn” come from?
Pronghorn derives from English pronghorn, a compound of prong and horn, with horn tracing through Middle English horn, Old English horn, Proto-West Germanic horn, Proto-Germanic hurną, and ultimately Proto-Indo-European ḱerh₂-.
pronghorn (English): A North American mammal, "Antilocapra americana",...
Definitions
- A North American mammal, "Antilocapra americana",...
Ancestry of “pronghorn”, step by step
pronghorn traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via English horn
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | horn | A hard growth of keratin that protrudes from the... |
| 2 | Middle English | horn | A horn; A jutting or projecting extremity of... |
| 3 | Old English | horn | horn; gable |
| 4 | Proto-West Germanic | horn | horn |
| 5 | Proto-Germanic | hurną | horn |
| 6 | Proto-Indo-European | ḱer- | to grow, to make grow, to nourish; to plait,... |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | kr̥- | to turn, to bend |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | ker- | army |
via English prong
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | prong | A thin, pointed, projecting part, as of an antler... |
| 2 | Middle English | prōnge | affliction, agony, pain; pointed instrument |
| 3 | Middle Low German | prange | pole, stake; kind of pillory or stocks; stick,... |
| 4 | Middle Low German | prangen | to press, pinch |
| 5 | Old Saxon | *prangan | — |
| 6 | Proto-West Germanic | *prangan | to press |