Where does “singlet” come from?
Singlet derives from English single, from Middle French -el, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European sem- meaning "one," which developed through Latin -culus as a diminutive suffix.
singlet (English): A vest; a sleeveless garment with a low-cut neck,...
Definitions
- A vest; a sleeveless garment with a low-cut neck,...
Ancestry of “singlet”, step by step
singlet traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via English single
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | single | Not accompanied by anything else; one in number;... |
| 2 | Middle English | single | — |
| 3 | Old French | sengle | single; alone; alone; in an unaccompanied way |
| 4 | Late Latin | cingula | nominative/accusative/vocative plural of cingulum |
| 5 | Latin | Cingulum | situated on a lofty hill, now Cingoli |
| 6 | Latin | -ulum | Used to form a noun of instrument or means from a... |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | -tlom | Alternative form of *-trom |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | -trom | Forms nouns denoting a tool or instrument |
| 9 | Proto-Indo-European | -tḗr | Derives agent nouns from verbs, denoting someone... |
via English let
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | let | To allow to, not to prevent; To leave; To allow... |
| 2 | Middle English | leten | to let |
| 3 | Old English | lǣtan | to let; leave; to let go, leave; to allow, let... |
| 4 | Proto-West Germanic | lātan | to let, to allow; to leave alone |
| 5 | Proto-Germanic | lētaną | to let, to allow; to leave alone |
| 6 | Proto-Indo-European | leh₁d- | to be tired |