Where does “razor grinder” come from?
razor grinder (English) comes from English razor, from Middle English rasour, from Old French rasour, from Old French raser, from Vulgar Latin raso, from Latin rāsus, from Latin rādō, from Proto-Italic razdō — to scrape, scratch, gnaw.
razor grinder (English): A large brown cicada, Henicopsaltria eydouxii, of eastern Australia
Definitions
- A large brown cicada, Henicopsaltria eydouxii, of eastern Australia
Ancestry of “razor grinder”, step by step
razor grinder traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via English razor
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | razor | A keen-edged knife of peculiar shape, used in... |
| 2 | Middle English | rasour | razor |
| 3 | Old French | rasour | — |
| 4 | Old French | raser | to shave |
| 5 | Vulgar Latin | raso | dative masculine singular of rāsus; dative neuter... |
| 6 | Latin | rāsus | scraped, shaved |
| 7 | Latin | rādō | to scrape, shave, scratch |
| 8 | Proto-Italic | razdō | — |
| 9 | Proto-Indo-European | rh₁d-dʰ- | — |
| 10 | Proto-Indo-European | reh₁d- | to scrape, scratch, gnaw |
via English grinder
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | grinder | One who grinds something, such as the teeth; A... |
| 2 | Middle English | grinder | — |
| 3 | Old English | grindere | one who or that which grinds, especially corn or... |
| 4 | Old English | -ere | masculine agent suffix, originally applied only... |
| 5 | Proto-West Germanic | -ārī | -er |
| 6 | Proto-Germanic | -ārijaz | -er |
| 7 | Latin | -ārius | er |
| 8 | Proto-Italic | *-āzios | Forms relational adjectives to nouns (and rarely numerals) |