Where does “reflectance” come from?
Reflectance derives from French -ance, Latin -antia (a suffix forming nouns of quality or state), combined with Latin re- (back) and Proto-Italic wre, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European wert- and wer- (to turn).
reflectance (English): The ratio of the flux reflected to that incident...
Definitions
- The ratio of the flux reflected to that incident...
Ancestry of “reflectance”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | reflect | To bend back (light, etc.) from a surface |
| 2 | Old French | reflecter | — |
| 3 | Latin | reflectō | to turn back or away; yield; retreat |
| 4 | Latin | rĕ- | back, backwards |
| 5 | Latin | prōdūcō | to lead or bring forth, forward or out |
| 6 | Latin | prō- | forward direction, forward movement |
| 7 | Proto-Italic | *pro- | pro- see the Latin entry for further meanings |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | pro- | toward, forward |
| 9 | Proto-Indo-European | por- | to give birth; forward, through; going, passage |
| 10 | Proto-Indo-European | per- | before, in front; first; to go through |
| 11 | Proto-Indo-European | pr̥tós | passed , crossed |