Where does “redshift” come from?
Redshift is a blend of English red and English shift, with red deriving from Proto-Germanic raudaz, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European h₁rowdʰós meaning colored or ruddy.
redshift (English): A change in the wavelength of light, in which the...
Definitions
- A change in the wavelength of light, in which the...
Ancestry of “redshift”, step by step
redshift traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via English Shift
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | Shift | A modifier key whose main function is shifting... |
| 2 | Middle English | schiften | To split, cut up, sunder; To share out,... |
| 3 | Old English | sċiftan | to divide, separate into shares; appoint, ordain;... |
| 4 | Proto-Germanic | skiftijaną | To put in order; organise; arrange |
| 5 | Proto-Germanic | skipatjaną | to organise, put in order |
| 6 | Proto-Indo-European | skēyb- | — |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | sḱēy- | to shine; to shimmer; shadow; luster, gloss,... |
| 8 | Proto-Germanic | skaidą | separation, distinction |
| 9 | Proto-Indo-European | skÁit- | to cut, part, spearate, divide; to cut, part,... |
via English Red
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | Red | A Communist; A supporter of a sports team who... |
| 2 | English | rede | Help, advice, counsel; Decision, a plan; To... |
| 3 | Middle English | reden | to counsel, advise; to study; to read |
| 4 | Old English | rǣdan | to read, interpret; to counsel, advise; plot,... |
| 5 | Proto-West Germanic | rādan | to advise, counsel, help; to devise, decide,... |
| 6 | Proto-Germanic | rēdaną | to decide, advise |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | Hreh₁dʰ- | to think; to arrange; to succeed, accomplish |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | h₂reh₁- | to think, reason; to arrange |
| 9 | Proto-Indo-European | h₂er- | to fit, to fix, to put together |