Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “rails” come from?

Rails derives from Middle French railler, from Latin radiare meaning to radiate, ultimately from Latin radius meaning ray or spoke.

rails (English): plural of rail; Third-person singular simple...

Definitions

  1. plural of rail; Third-person singular simple...

Ancestry of “rails”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Latinrēgula—
2Latin-ularegō + API → rēgula; tegō + API → tēgula;...
3Proto-Indo-European-tlomAlternative form of *-trom
4Proto-Indo-European-tromForms nouns denoting a tool or instrument
5Proto-Indo-European-tḗrDerives agent nouns from verbs, denoting someone...

Words derived from “rails”

  • рельс
Every word from Proto-Indo-European -tḗr →