Where does “robberfly” come from?
robberfly (English) comes from English fly, from Middle English flien, from Old English flēogan, from Old English -ende, from Proto-West Germanic *-andī, from Proto-Germanic -andz, from Proto-Indo-European -ónts, from Hungarian önt — sound, voice.
Ancestry of “robberfly”, step by step
robberfly traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via English fly
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | fly | Any insect of the order Diptera; characterized by... |
| 2 | Middle English | flien | To fly; to travel in the air; To move in the sky;... |
| 3 | Old English | flēogan | to fly |
| 4 | Old English | -ende | equivalent of English -ing; suffix for present... |
| 5 | Proto-West Germanic | *-andī | — |
| 6 | Proto-Germanic | -andz | — |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | -ónts | Derives nouns denoting body parts |
| 8 | Hungarian | önt | to pour; to cast; accusative singular of ön |
| 9 | Hungarian | ön | you |
| 10 | Hungarian | ön- | self- |
| 11 | Turkish | ön | front |
| 12 | Ottoman Turkish | اوك | voice (of human or animal); sound |
| 13 | Proto-Turkic | ǖn | sound, voice |
via English robber
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | robber | A person who robs |
| 2 | Middle English | robbour | A robber or burglar; one who robs or steals |
| 3 | Old French | robeor | thief; burglar; robber |
| 4 | Old French | -eor | Alternative form of -or |
| 5 | Latin | -ator | -ator, -er; second-person singular future passive... |
| 6 | Latin | -tor | -er |
| 7 | Proto-Italic | -tōr | Forms agent nouns to verb stems |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | -tōr | Derives agent nouns from verbs, denoting someone... |
| 9 | Proto-Indo-European | -tor-s | — |