Where does “steeplechase” come from?
Steeplechase comes from English steeple and chase, where chase derives from French châsse, from Latin capsa meaning box or case, ultimately from Latin capio meaning to take or seize.
steeplechase (English): A horse race, either across open country, or over...
Definitions
- A horse race, either across open country, or over...
Ancestry of “steeplechase”, step by step
steeplechase traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via English Chase
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | Chase | from a nickname for a hunter |
| 2 | French | châsse | reliquary; coffin |
| 3 | Middle French | chasse | — |
| 4 | Old French | chace | hunt; inflection of chacer: ## first/third-person... |
| 5 | Old French | chacier | to hunt, to go hunting |
| 6 | Latin | captiāre | to hunt |
| 7 | Latin | captus | captured, having been captured, seized, having... |
| 8 | Latin | capiō | to take, to capture, to catch, to seize, to take captive, to storm |
| 9 | Proto-Italic | kapiō | take |
| 10 | Proto-Italic | kapjō | take, seize |
| 11 | Proto-Indo-European | kh₂pyéti | — |
| 12 | Proto-Indo-European | keh₂p- | to seize, grab; to seize; take up; lift; to take,... |
via English steeple
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | steeple | A tall tower, often on a church, normally topped... |
| 2 | Middle English | stēpel | — |
| 3 | English | stable | A building, wing or dependency set apart and... |
| 4 | Middle English | stable | stable; Alternative form of stablie; Alternative... |
| 5 | Anglo-Norman | stable | — |
| 6 | Latin | stabilis | That stands firm; firm, steadfast, steady, sure,... |
| 7 | Latin | stare | present active infinitive of stō; stand; to be |
| 8 | Latin | sto | I stand; I stay, remain; I am |
| 9 | Proto-Italic | staēō | stand |
| 10 | Proto-Indo-European | sth₂éh₁yeti | to stand |
| 11 | Proto-Indo-European | *steh₂- | — |