Where does “skimmer” come from?
Skimmer comes from English skim, from Old French -er, from Latin -are, from Latin -arius, from Latin spuma meaning foam, from Proto-Indo-European skew-.
skimmer (English): A device that skims; A person who skims; Any of...
Definitions
- A device that skims; A person who skims; Any of...
Ancestry of “skimmer”, step by step
skimmer traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via English skim
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | skim | To pass lightly; to glide along in an even,... |
| 2 | English | -er | A person or thing that does an action indicated... |
| 3 | Middle English | -er | agentive suffix; agent noun suffix |
| 4 | Old French | -er | Alternative form of -ier, verbal suffix;... |
| 5 | Latin | -āre | first conjugation |
| 6 | Proto-Italic | -āō | Forms primarily denominative verbs |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | -eh₂yéti | Creates iterative/ frequentative/ intensive... |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | -yéti | Creates intransitive, often deponent,... |
| 9 | Proto-Indo-European | yé- | — |
| 10 | Chichewa | iye | he, she |