Where does “rocket” come from?
Rocket comes from Italian rocchetta, from Italian rocca, diminished by Italian -etta, from Latin eruca, from Gothic rukka, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European roots ǵʰers- and rukn-.
rocket (English): A rocket engine; A non-guided missile propelled...
Definitions
- A rocket engine; A non-guided missile propelled...
Ancestry of “rocket”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | French | roquette | rocket weapon |
| 2 | Italian | rocchetta | incendiary rocket |
| 3 | Italian | rocchetto | spool; reel; coil |
| 4 | Italian | -etto | Alterative suffix used to form melioratives,... |
| 5 | English | -et | Used to form diminutives, loosely construed |
| 6 | Middle English | -et | Forms diminutive nouns from nouns; in some words,... |
| 7 | Old French | -et | Used to form a diminutive, masculine noun;... |
| 8 | Latin | -ātus | ed |
| 9 | Proto-Italic | -ātos | — |
| 10 | Proto-Indo-European | -éh₂tos | Forms adjectives from nouns, indicating the possession of a thing or a quality |