Where does “sternfast” come from?
sternfast (English) comes from English Stern, from English tern, from Middle English terne, from Old French terne, from Latin ternas, from Latin terni, from Latin ter, from Latin terr.
sternfast (English): A rope or chain for making fast a ship's stern to a wharf, etc
Definitions
- A rope or chain for making fast a ship's stern to a wharf, etc
Ancestry of “sternfast”, step by step
sternfast traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via English Stern
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | Stern | Having a hardness and severity of nature or manner |
| 2 | English | tern | Any of various sea birds of the family Sternidae... |
| 3 | Middle English | terne | — |
| 4 | Old French | terne | dull, dim |
| 5 | Latin | ternas | accusative feminine plural of terni |
| 6 | Latin | terni | three each; three at a time |
| 7 | Latin | ter | thrice |
| 8 | Latin | terr | — |
| 9 | Old Latin | tris | — |
| 10 | Proto-Italic | trēs | three |
| 11 | Proto-Indo-European | *tréyes | — |
via English fast
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | fast | Firmly or securely fixed in place; stable; Firm... |
| 2 | Middle English | fast | fast quickly |
| 3 | Old English | fæste | firmly, fastly, tightly |
| 4 | Old English | -e | forming adverbs from adjectives; -ly |
| 5 | Old English | -en | mæġþ + API → mæġden; cocc + API → cycen, cicen;... |
| 6 | Old Norse | -inn | Used to create adjectives from nouns, meaning... |
| 7 | Proto-Norse | -īna- | — |
| 8 | Proto-Germanic | -īnaz | -en |
| 9 | Proto-Indo-European | -iHnos | Creates adjectives of materials |
| 10 | Proto-Indo-European | -no- | adjectival suffix |