Where does “ratchet” come from?
Ratchet comes from Italian rocchetto, diminutive of rocca, ultimately from Gothic rukka and Latin -ittus, traced to Proto-Indo-European wreg- meaning to turn or twist.
ratchet (English): A pawl, click, or detent for holding or...
Definitions
- A pawl, click, or detent for holding or...
Ancestry of “ratchet”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | French | rochet | rochet; ratchet |
| 2 | Italian | rocchetto | spool; reel; coil |
| 3 | Italian | -etto | Alterative suffix used to form melioratives,... |
| 4 | English | -et | Used to form diminutives, loosely construed |
| 5 | Middle English | -et | Forms diminutive nouns from nouns; in some words,... |
| 6 | Old French | -et | Used to form a diminutive, masculine noun;... |
| 7 | Latin | -ātus | ed |
| 8 | Proto-Italic | -ātos | — |
| 9 | Proto-Indo-European | -éh₂tos | Forms adjectives from nouns, indicating the possession of a thing or a quality |