Where does “sans serif” come from?
sans serif (English) comes from English serif, from English Sheriff, from Middle English shirreve, from Old English scīrġerēfa, from Old English sċīr, from Old English burna, from Proto-West Germanic brunnō, from Proto-Germanic brunnô — to bear, carry.
sans serif (English): A typeface in which the characters do not have serifs
Definitions
- A typeface in which the characters do not have serifs
Ancestry of “sans serif”, step by step
sans serif traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via English serif
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | serif | A short line added to the end of a stroke in... |
| 2 | English | Sheriff | (High Sheriff) An official of a shire or county office, responsible for carrying out court orders, law enforcement and other duties |
| 3 | Middle English | shirreve | A sheriff; an individual responsible for a number... |
| 4 | Old English | scīrġerēfa | shire-reeve; sheriff |
| 5 | Old English | sċīr | bright; shire; county |
| 6 | Old English | burna | stream |
| 7 | Proto-West Germanic | brunnō | well, spring |
| 8 | Proto-Germanic | brunnô | source; wellspring; fountain; brook; stream;... |
| 9 | Proto-Indo-European | bʰréh₁wr̥ | well, spring, source |
| 10 | Proto-Indo-European | bʰrewh₁- | to boil; to brew |
| 11 | Proto-Indo-European | bʰer- | to bear, carry |
via English sans
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | sans | without; lacking; Short for sans serif; plural of... |
| 2 | Middle English | saunz | without, lacking, sans |
| 3 | Old French | senz | without |
| 4 | Latin | absentia | absence |
| 5 | Latin | absēns | absent, missing, away, away from, distant, gone, gone away |
| 6 | Latin | absum | I am away, I am absent, I am distant |
| 7 | Latin | ab- | from, away, away from; off; at a distance |
| 8 | Latin | āb | from, away from, out of |
| 9 | Proto-Germanic | *ab | — |
| 10 | Proto-Indo-European | apó | — |