Where does “starlet” come from?
Starlet comes from Middle French -el and -et suffixes applied to Old French -et, ultimately derived from Proto-Indo-European h₂stḗr meaning star.
starlet (English): A young actress with a promising career ahead of...
Definitions
- A young actress with a promising career ahead of...
Ancestry of “starlet”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | English | star | Any small luminous dot appearing in the cloudless... |
| 2 | Middle English | sterre | star |
| 3 | Old English | steorra | star |
| 4 | Proto-West Germanic | sterrō | — |
| 5 | Proto-Germanic | sternô | — |
| 6 | Proto-Indo-European | h₂stḗr | star |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | h₂eHs- | to be/become dry; to burn, to glow; hearth |