Where does “soft copy” come from?
soft copy (English) comes from English copy, from Middle English copy, from Old French copie, from Medieval Latin copia, from Latin cōpia, from Latin coopia, from Latin co-, from Latin cōn- — to bend; curve; arch; vault; to bow, bend, arch,...
soft copy (English): A digital copy of a document, rather than a copy...
Definitions
- A digital copy of a document, rather than a copy...
Ancestry of “soft copy”, step by step
soft copy traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via English copy
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | copy | The result of copying; an identical duplicate of... |
| 2 | Middle English | copy | — |
| 3 | Old French | copie | abundance, plenty; transcript, copy |
| 4 | Medieval Latin | copia | reproduction, transcript; copy; supply |
| 5 | Latin | cōpia | supply, abundance, copiousness, wealth, riches |
| 6 | Latin | coopia | — |
| 7 | Latin | co- | allomorph of con- |
| 8 | Latin | cōn- | Used in compounds to indicate a being or bringing together of several objects |
| 9 | Latin | cum | with, along with; at; -fold |
| 10 | Old Latin | com | Alternative form of cum |
| 11 | Proto-Italic | kom | with, along, at |
| 12 | Proto-Indo-European | ḱóm | beside, near, by, with |
| 13 | Proto-Indo-European | ḱe | Deictic particle, here; Post-positional... |
| 14 | Middle English | kyt | — |
| 15 | German | kitt | putty certain kinds of cement used for fixing e.g. window panes |
| 16 | Old High German | kuti | — |
| 17 | Proto-West Germanic | kwidu | gum, resin |
| 18 | Proto-Germanic | kweduz | resin |
| 19 | Proto-Indo-European | gʷet- | resin, gum; to say, speak |
| 20 | Proto-Indo-European | gū- | to bend; curve; arch; vault; to bow, bend, arch,... |
via English soft
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | soft | Easily giving way under pressure; Smooth and... |
| 2 | Middle English | softe | soft |
| 3 | Old English | sōfte | softly |
| 4 | Proto-West Germanic | samftō | softly, gently |
| 5 | Proto-West Germanic | -ō | Creates adverbs from adjectives; Creates agent... |
| 6 | Proto-Germanic | -ô | -ly; Forms agent nouns, often from the zero-grade... |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | -ō | Derives nouns from roots |