Where does “signalment” come from?

signalment (English) comes from French signalement, from French signaler, from French signalé, from Italian segnalato, from Italian segnalare, from Italian segnale, from Late Latin signale, from Latin signālis — to cut, cut off, sever.

signalment (English): The act of signalling, or of signalizing; A...

Definitions

  1. The act of signalling, or of signalizing; A...

Ancestry of “signalment”, step by step

signalment traces back through 3 separate lines of ancestry.

via French signalement

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Frenchsignalementphysical description
2Frenchsignalerto signal; to highlight, to notify, to bring to...
3Frenchsignalépast participle of signaler
4Italiansegnalatopast participle of segnalare; past participle of...
5Italiansegnalareto indicate or be a sign of; to signal; to report...
6Italiansegnalesignal, sign
7Late Latinsignale
8Latinsignālis
9Latinsignumvisible indication: sign, mark, signal; seal,...
10Proto-Italicseknomsign
11Proto-Indo-Europeansek-to cut, cut off, sever

via English signal

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1EnglishsignalA sequence of states representing an encoded...
2Old Frenchsegnalemblem; badge; signature; distinguishing mark...
3Medieval Latinsignalesignal
4Late Latinsignalis

via English ment

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Englishmentsimple past tense and past participle of meng;...
2Korean멘트
Every word from Proto-Indo-European sek-Every word from Proto-Italic seknomEvery word from Latin signum