Where does “seat-of-the-pants” come from?
seat-of-the-pants (English) comes from English pants, from English pantaloons, from English pantaloon, from French pantalon, from Italian Pantalone, from Ancient Greek Παντελεήμων, from Ancient Greek ἐλεήμων, from Ancient Greek ἐλεέω — Creates transitive imperfective verbs from roots.
seat-of-the-pants (English): Done by feel, guess, or trial and error rather than by careful planning, thought or technique
Definitions
- Done by feel, guess, or trial and error rather than by careful planning, thought or technique
Ancestry of “seat-of-the-pants”, step by step
seat-of-the-pants traces back through 3 separate lines of ancestry.
via English pants
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | pants | An outer garment that covers the body from the... |
| 2 | English | pantaloons | An article of clothing covering each leg... |
| 3 | English | pantaloon | An aging buffoon; Trousers reminiscent of the... |
| 4 | French | pantalon | trousers UK, pants US |
| 5 | Italian | Pantalone | Pantaloon (Venetian theatrical character) |
| 6 | Ancient Greek | Παντελεήμων | — |
| 7 | Ancient Greek | ἐλεήμων | pitiful, merciful |
| 8 | Ancient Greek | ἐλεέω | I have pity on, take pity on, show mercy to |
| 9 | Ancient Greek | -έω | Used to form verbs from nouns, adjectives and... |
| 10 | Proto-Indo-European | -éyeti | Forms causative imperfective verbs from roots;... |
| 11 | Proto-Indo-European | -yeti | Creates transitive imperfective verbs from roots |
via English The
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | The | Used before a noun phrase, including a simple noun |
| 2 | Middle English | þe | the; Second-person singular pronoun indicating a... |
| 3 | Middle English | in | Any kind of accomodation; particularly; A home or... |
| 4 | Old English | inn | in; inn |
| 5 | Old English | inne | inside, in; indoors |
| 6 | Proto-Germanic | innai | within, inside |
| 7 | Proto-Germanic | in | in; into |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | én | in |