Where does “shellac” come from?
Shellac comes from English shell and English Cadillac, which derives from Sanskrit लाक्षा meaning a resinous substance, via Urdu لاکھ and back to Sanskrit लक्ष्, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European (s)kel- meaning to cut or split.
shellac (English): A processed secretion of the lac insect, "Coccus...
Definitions
- A processed secretion of the lac insect, "Coccus...
Ancestry of “shellac”, step by step
shellac traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via English lác
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | lác | A resinous substance or lacquer produced mainly on the banyan tree by the female of Kerria lacca, a scale insect |
| 2 | Portuguese | laca | lake; lac |
| 3 | Persian | لاک | trough, wooden vessel |
| 4 | Urdu | لاکھ | lakh, lac |
| 5 | Maharastri Prakrit | 𑀮𑀓𑁆𑀔 | — |
| 6 | Sanskrit | लक्ष | a mark, sign, token; a mark to aim at, target,... |
| 7 | Sanskrit | लक्ष् | perceive, observe; recognise; to mark, sign |
| 8 | Sanskrit | रक्ष् | to protect, guard, watch, take care of, save,... |
| 9 | Proto-Indo-Aryan | Hrakṣ- | — |
| 10 | Proto-Indo-Iranian | Hrakš- | — |
| 11 | Proto-Indo-European | h₂lek- | to protect |
via English Shell
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | Shell | A diminutive of the female given name Michelle or Shelly |
| 2 | Middle English | schelle | — |
| 3 | Old English | sċiell | shell |
| 4 | Proto-West Germanic | skallju | scale; shell |
| 5 | Proto-Germanic | skaljō | shell; husk; rind; peel |
| 6 | Proto-Indo-European | (s)kelH- | to cut; to split, to separate |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | (s)kel- | to bend, crook; bent, crooked; leg, heel, knee,... |