Where does “skyscraper” come from?
Skyscraper combines English sky with English scrape, which derives from Old French -er and Latin -are, ultimately from Latin -arius meaning "one who does" and Latin -us.
skyscraper (English): A very tall building with a large number of...
Definitions
- A very tall building with a large number of...
Ancestry of “skyscraper”, step by step
skyscraper traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via English scraper
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | scraper | An instrument with which anything is scraped; One... |
| 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 |