Where does “quackgrass” come from?
quackgrass (English) comes from English quack, from English quacksalver, from Dutch quacksalver, from Middle Dutch quacsalven, from Middle Dutch salve, from Old Dutch salva, from Proto-West Germanic salbu, from Proto-Germanic salbō — fat, oil.
quackgrass (English): couch grass
Definitions
- couch grass
Ancestry of “quackgrass”, step by step
quackgrass traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via English quack
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | quack | The sound made by a duck; To make a noise like a... |
| 2 | English | quacksalver | One falsely claiming to possess medical or other... |
| 3 | Dutch | quacksalver | a hawker of salve |
| 4 | Middle Dutch | quacsalven | — |
| 5 | Middle Dutch | salve | ointment, salve |
| 6 | Old Dutch | salva | salve, ointment |
| 7 | Proto-West Germanic | salbu | salve, ointment |
| 8 | Proto-Germanic | salbō | salve, ointment |
| 9 | Proto-Indo-European | solp-éh₂ | — |
| 10 | Proto-Indo-European | selp- | fat, oil |
via English grass
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | grass | Any plant of the family Poaceae, characterized by... |
| 2 | Middle English | gras | A grass; Any plant; especially a herbaceous one;... |
| 3 | Old English | græs | grass |
| 4 | Proto-West Germanic | gras | grass |
| 5 | Proto-Germanic | grasą | grass |
| 6 | Proto-Indo-European | ǵʰreh₁- | to become green, grow; to grow; to green, to grow |