Where does “tassel” come from?
Tassel comes from Old French tassel, from Latin taxillus, from Latin talus meaning die or ankle bone, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European teh₂g- meaning to touch or handle.
tassel (English): A ball-shaped bunch of plaited or otherwise...
Definitions
- A ball-shaped bunch of plaited or otherwise...
Ancestry of “tassel”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Middle English | tassel | — |
| 2 | Old French | tassel | tassel (adornment for a garment) |
| 3 | Late Latin | taxellus | — |
| 4 | Latin | taxillus | small cube |
| 5 | Latin | -illus | Used to form adjectives from nouns |
| 6 | Latin | -lus | Alternative form of -ulus; diminutive suffix |
| 7 | Proto-Italic | -elos | Forms desubstantival and deadjectival diminutive nouns |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | -e-lós | — |
| 9 | Proto-Indo-European | -lós | Forms agent nouns from verbal roots |