Where does “supersonic” come from?
Supersonic comes from English super- combined with sonic, which derives from Latin sonus meaning sound.
supersonic (English): greater than the speed of sound; ultrasonic,...
Definitions
- greater than the speed of sound; ultrasonic,...
Ancestry of “supersonic”, step by step
supersonic traces back through 3 separate lines of ancestry.
via English Sonic
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | Sonic | Of or relating to sound |
| 2 | English | -ic | Used to form adjectives from nouns with the... |
| 3 | English | image | An optical or other representation of a real... |
| 4 | French | image | picture, image; frame; first-person singular... |
| 5 | Portuguese | imagem | image; picture; figure; image; image; face |
| 6 | Spanish | imagen | image |
| 7 | Italian | immagine | image; imago |
| 8 | Latin | imāginem | — |
| 9 | Latin | im- | Alternative form of in-; form of "in"; in |
| 10 | Latin | īn- | un-, non-, not |
| 11 | Latin | în | in, at, on, upon, from (space) |
| 12 | Latin | en | lookǃ beholdǃ; reallyǃ?; come onǃ |
| 13 | Proto-Italic | en | in |
| 14 | Proto-Indo-European | h₁én | in |
via English super
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | super | Of excellent quality, superfine; better than... |
| 2 | English | super-ego | Alternative spelling of superego |
| 3 | German | Über-Ich | superego |
| 4 | German | Ich | ego, the Ich; self, me, him, etc |
| 5 | Middle High German | ich | I |
| 6 | Old High German | ih | I |
| 7 | Proto-West Germanic | ik | I |
| 8 | Proto-Germanic | *ek | — |
| 9 | Proto-Indo-European | éǵh₂ | I |
via French supersonique
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | French | supersonique | supersonic |
| 2 | French | super- | super-, over- |
| 3 | Latin | super- | super-; over, above |
| 4 | Ancient Greek | συμμετρία | commensurability; symmetry, due proportion; a... |
| 5 | Ancient Greek | σύμμετρος | symmetrical |
| 6 | Ancient Greek | μέτρον | something used to measure: measure, rule, weight;... |
| 7 | Ancient Greek | -τρον | Forms instrument nouns |
| 8 | Proto-Hellenic | -tron | Forms instrument nouns from verb stems |
| 9 | Proto-Indo-European | -trom | Forms nouns denoting a tool or instrument |