Where does “spyglass” come from?
Spyglass comes from English spy and glass, where glass derives from Middle English glas, Old English glæs, and Proto-Germanic glasą, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European gʰel-.
spyglass (English): A small portable telescope; A pair of binoculars
Definitions
- A small portable telescope; A pair of binoculars
Ancestry of “spyglass”, step by step
spyglass traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via English spy
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | spy | A person who secretly watches and examines the... |
| 2 | English | -ing | Used to form gerunds, a type of verbal nouns,... |
| 3 | Old English | -ing | Forming nouns from verbs, indicating action,... |
| 4 | Old English | -tūn | homestead, village, town |
| 5 | Old English | tūn | enclosure, yard; place; dwelling |
| 6 | Proto-West Germanic | tūn | fence |
| 7 | Proto-Germanic | tūną | fence; enclosure |
| 8 | Gaulish | dunum | fort; hill, hillfort |
| 9 | Proto-Celtic | dūnom | stronghold, rampart |
| 10 | Proto-Indo-European | dʰewh₂- | smoke; mist, haze |
via English glass
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | glass | An amorphous solid, often transparent substance... |
| 2 | Scottish Gaelic | glas | green; grey; lock |
| 3 | Middle Irish | glas | — |
| 4 | Old Irish | glas | green, greenish; blue, green-blue, grey-blue; the... |
| 5 | Proto-Celtic | glastos | green, blue |
| 6 | Proto-Indo-European | ǵʰl̥h₃stós | — |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | ǵʰelh₃- | to flourish; green, yellow |