Where does “rail yard” come from?
rail yard (English) comes from English Yard, from English milliard, from French milliard, from French million, from Middle French million, from Old French millon, from Italian milione, from Italian mille.
rail yard (English): A complex of branching railway lines and other infrastructure in which locomotives and rolling stock are stored and rearranged
Definitions
- A complex of branching railway lines and other infrastructure in which locomotives and rolling stock are stored and rearranged
Ancestry of “rail yard”, step by step
rail yard traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via English Yard
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | Yard | Scotland Yard or New Scotland Yard |
| 2 | English | milliard | 10, a thousand million |
| 3 | French | milliard | A milliard |
| 4 | French | million | million, 10 |
| 5 | Middle French | million | million, 10 |
| 6 | Old French | millon | — |
| 7 | Italian | milione | million |
| 8 | Italian | mille | thousand |
| 9 | Latin | Mīlle | thousand; 1000 |
| 10 | Proto-Italic | smīɣeslī | thousand |
| 11 | Proto-Indo-European | smih₂ǵʰéslih₂ | — |
via English rail
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | rail | A horizontal bar extending between supports and... |
| 2 | Middle English | rail | — |
| 3 | Old English | regol | a rule; a ruler |
| 4 | Latin | rēgula | rule, bar |
| 5 | Latin | -ula | regō + API → rēgula; tegō + API → tēgula;... |
| 6 | Proto-Indo-European | -tlom | Alternative form of *-trom |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | -trom | Forms nouns denoting a tool or instrument |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | -tḗr | Derives agent nouns from verbs, denoting someone... |