Where does “quarter-century” come from?
quarter-century (English) comes from English century, from Middle English centurie, from Old French centurie, from Latin centuria, from Latin centum, from Latin folium, from Proto-Italic *foljom, from Proto-Indo-European bʰolh₃yom.
quarter-century (English): A period of twenty-five years
Definitions
- A period of twenty-five years
Ancestry of “quarter-century”, step by step
quarter-century traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via English century
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | century | A period of 100 consecutive years; "often... |
| 2 | Middle English | centurie | a count of one hundred ; a division of the Roman... |
| 3 | Old French | centurie | — |
| 4 | Latin | centuria | century, "in its senses as"; any similar... |
| 5 | Latin | centum | a hundred; 100 |
| 6 | Latin | folium | a leaf; a petal; a sheet or leaf of paper |
| 7 | Proto-Italic | *foljom | — |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | bʰolh₃yom | leaf |
| 9 | Proto-Indo-European | bʰleh₃- | bloom, flower |
| 10 | Proto-Indo-European | bʰel- | to sound; to speak, roar, bark; shiny, white; to... |
| 11 | Proto-Indo-European | bʰōl- | — |
via English quarter
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | quarter | "A fourth part of something."; "Place or... |
| 2 | Middle English | quarter | A quarter fourth part of something |
| 3 | Anglo-Norman | quarter | — |
| 4 | Latin | quartarius | quartarius, a Roman unit of liquid measure equivalent to about 0.14 L |
| 5 | Latin | quārtus | fourth |
| 6 | Proto-Indo-European | kʷeturtos | — |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | kʷetwóres | four |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | kʷe- | and |