Where does “sawmill” come from?
Sawmill derives from English saw and mill, where saw comes from Old English mylen via Latin millesimum, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European sekʷe- meaning to cut.
sawmill (English): A machine, building, or company used for cutting (milling) lumber or (rarely) other hard materials such as stone
Definitions
- A machine, building, or company used for cutting (milling) lumber or (rarely) other hard materials such as stone
Ancestry of “sawmill”, step by step
sawmill traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via English Mill
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | Mill | John Stuart Mill, English libertarian and utilitarian philosopher |
| 2 | English | million | The cardinal number 1,000,000: 10; a thousand... |
| 3 | Middle English | milioun | The cardinal number 1 000 000: 106; a thousand thousand |
| 4 | Middle French | million | million, 10 |
| 5 | Old French | millon | — |
| 6 | Italian | milione | million |
| 7 | Italian | mille | thousand |
| 8 | Latin | Mīlle | thousand; 1000 |
| 9 | Proto-Italic | smīɣeslī | thousand |
| 10 | Proto-Indo-European | smih₂ǵʰéslih₂ | — |
via English saw
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | saw | A tool with a toothed blade used for cutting hard... |
| 2 | Middle English | sawe | Alternative form of sauf |
| 3 | Old English | saga | saw; saying; statement; story, tale; narrative |
| 4 | Proto-West Germanic | sagā | story |
| 5 | Proto-Germanic | sagǭ | story |
| 6 | Proto-Indo-European | sekʷe- | — |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | sekʷ- | to follow; to see; to say |