Where does “tart” come from?
Tart comes from Old French tarte, which derives from Old English heorte meaning "heart," ultimately from Proto-Indo-European ḱḗr with the same sense.
tart (English): Sharp to the taste; acid; sour; high or too high...
Definitions
- Sharp to the taste; acid; sour; high or too high...
Ancestry of “tart”, step by step
tart traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via French tarte
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | French | tarte | pie, tart; slap; something easy to do |
| 2 | German | torte | inflection of torten: ## first-person singular... |
| 3 | Italian | torta | pie, tart, cake or similar; roundel; The act of... |
| 4 | Late Latin | torta | — |
| 5 | Latin | torta panis | twisted bread |
| 6 | Latin | tortus | twisted, crooked; spun, whirled; bent, distorted |
| 7 | Latin | -tus | Forms the past participle of verbs; Forms... |
| 8 | Proto-Italic | -tus | — |
| 9 | Proto-Indo-European | -tus | Derives action nouns from verb roots |
via Middle English tart
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Middle English | tart | Sour, tart; having much acidity; Acute, keen;... |
| 2 | Old English | teart | sharp, rough, severe |
| 3 | Proto-Germanic | tartaz | rough, sharp, tearing |
| 4 | Proto-Germanic | teraną | to tear; snatch or pull off (from); tug |
| 5 | Proto-Indo-European | der- | to split, to separate; to tear, to crack, to... |