Where does “racehorse” come from?
Racehorse derives from English race and horse, where race comes from English raze, from Proto-Italic wrād-ī-, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European ḱers- meaning to run.
racehorse (English): A horse that competes in races
Definitions
- A horse that competes in races
Ancestry of “racehorse”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | English | race | A contest between people, animals, vehicles, etc.... |
| 2 | Middle French | race | race; breed |
| 3 | Italian | razza | race, breed; kind, type; family, descent |
| 4 | Italian | razzo | skyrocket; Ellipsis of razzo di segnalazione;... |
| 5 | Italian | raggio | ray, beam, shaft; spoke; radius |
| 6 | Latin | radius | ray; staff, rod; spoke |
| 7 | English | -án | — |
| 8 | Middle English | -an | — |