Where does “roundabout” come from?
Roundabout comes from English around and English about, both derived from Latin rotundus meaning round, ultimately from Latin rota meaning wheel.
roundabout (English): Indirect, circuitous, or circumlocutionary;...
Definitions
- Indirect, circuitous, or circumlocutionary;...
Ancestry of “roundabout”, step by step
roundabout traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via English round
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | round | Shape; Complete, whole, not lacking; Convenient... |
| 2 | Middle English | round | circle, round |
| 3 | Old French | reont | round |
| 4 | Latin | retundus | round |
| 5 | Latin | rotundus | round, circular; spherical, rotund; rounded,... |
| 6 | Latin | rotō | to turn, trend, wheel, roll, swing about, whirl, rotate; brandish |
| 7 | Latin | Rota | an ecclesiastical appellate court in the Catholic... |
| 8 | Proto-Italic | rotā | — |
| 9 | Proto-Indo-European | Hróth₂-eh₂ | — |
| 10 | Proto-Indo-European | Hreth₂- | to run |
via English about
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | about | In a circle around; all round; on every side of;... |
| 2 | Middle English | aboute | around |
| 3 | Old English | onbūtan | about, round about, all around |
| 4 | Old English | on- | forming verbs and adjectives from participles and... |
| 5 | Proto-West Germanic | ana- | Forming verbs and adjectives from participles and... |
| 6 | Proto-Germanic | ana | on, at; on, onto; ana |