Where does “semicircle” come from?
Semicircle comes from Latin semi- combined with Latin circulus, from Proto-Indo-European (s)ker- meaning to turn or bend, with the diminutive suffix Latin -ulus.
semicircle (English): Half of a circle; An instrument for measuring...
Definitions
- Half of a circle; An instrument for measuring...
Ancestry of “semicircle”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | English | circle | A two-dimensional geometric figure, a line,... |
| 2 | Middle English | circle | — |
| 3 | Old French | cercle | circle |
| 4 | Latin | circulus | circle; An orbit; A ring, hoop |
| 5 | Latin | -ulus | Used to form a diminutive of a noun, indicating... |
| 6 | Proto-Italic | -olos | — |
| 7 | Proto-Italic | -elos | — |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | -e-lós | — |
| 9 | Proto-Indo-European | -lós | Forms agent nouns from verbal roots |