Where does “sconce” come from?
Sconce comes from Middle Dutch schans, from Old French esconce, from Latin absconsus, the past participle of abscondo meaning "to hide away," formed from ab and cum.
sconce (English): A fixture for a light; A head or a skull; A poll...
Definitions
- A fixture for a light; A head or a skull; A poll...
Ancestry of “sconce”, step by step
sconce traces back through 3 separate lines of ancestry.
via Middle English sconce
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Middle English | sconce | — |
| 2 | Old French | esconse | — |
| 3 | Latin | absconsus | hidden, secret, concealed |
| 4 | Latin | abscondō | to hide, conceal, cover, shroud |
| 5 | Latin | condō | to put together |
| 6 | Latin | cōn- | Used in compounds to indicate a being or bringing together of several objects |
| 7 | Latin | cum | with, along with; at; -fold |
| 8 | Old Latin | com | Alternative form of cum |
| 9 | Proto-Italic | kom | with, along, at |
| 10 | Proto-Indo-European | ḱóm | beside, near, by, with |
| 11 | Proto-Indo-European | ḱe | Deictic particle, here; Post-positional... |
| 12 | Middle English | kyt | — |
| 13 | German | kitt | putty certain kinds of cement used for fixing e.g. window panes |
| 14 | Old High German | kuti | — |
| 15 | Proto-West Germanic | kwidu | gum, resin |
| 16 | Proto-Germanic | kweduz | resin |
| 17 | Proto-Indo-European | gʷet- | resin, gum; to say, speak |
| 18 | Proto-Indo-European | gū- | to bend; curve; arch; vault; to bow, bend, arch,... |
via Dutch schans
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dutch | schans | A sconce or a similar type of fortification; A... |
| 2 | German | Schanze | entrenchment, redoubt; ski-jump |
via Middle Dutch schans
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Middle Dutch | schans | — |