Where does “steelhead” come from?
Steelhead derives from English steel and head, with head tracing to Old English hēafod, from Proto-Indo-European *kaput- meaning "head."
steelhead (English): The anadromous form of the rainbow trout,...
Definitions
- The anadromous form of the rainbow trout,...
Ancestry of “steelhead”, step by step
steelhead traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via English steel
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | steel | An artificial metal produced from iron, harder... |
| 2 | English | -ville | Used to form a name of an inhabited place, a town... |
| 3 | French | ville | town, city |
| 4 | Middle French | ville | city or town |
| 5 | Old French | ville | city or town |
| 6 | Latin | vīlla | country house; villa |
| 7 | Latin | vetera | the old; old times, ancient times, antiquity |
| 8 | Latin | vetus | old, aged, elderly, ancient; long-standing;... |
| 9 | Latin | -tus | Forms the past participle of verbs; Forms... |
| 10 | Proto-Italic | -tus | — |
| 11 | Proto-Indo-European | -tus | Derives action nouns from verb roots |
via English head
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | head | The part of the body of an animal or human which... |
| 2 | English | -y | Added to nouns and adjectives to form adjectives... |
| 3 | Middle English | -y | Designates an adjective, in many cases formed by... |
| 4 | Old English | -iġ | -y, -ic |
| 5 | Proto-West Germanic | -g | Forms adjectives from nouns and verbs with a... |
| 6 | Proto-Germanic | -gaz | -y |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | -ḱos | -y, -ic |