Where does “teaspoonful” come from?
Teaspoonful comes from English teaspoon, which combines English tea and English spoom, itself from English spume, derived from Latin spuma meaning foam, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European pleh₁-.
teaspoonful (English): A unit of capacity equal to the amount a teaspoon...
Definitions
- A unit of capacity equal to the amount a teaspoon...
Ancestry of “teaspoonful”, step by step
teaspoonful traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via English teaspoon
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | teaspoon | A small spoon used to stir the contents of a cup... |
| 2 | English | spoon | An implement for eating or serving; a scooped... |
| 3 | Middle English | spoon | Alternative form of spone |
| 4 | Old English | spōn | piece of wood, chip; sliver, chip of wood,... |
| 5 | Proto-West Germanic | spanu | piece of wood, chip, shaving |
| 6 | Proto-Germanic | spenô | nipple |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | psten-os- | — |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | pstḗn | breast, teat |
| 9 | Proto-Indo-European | ph₂ǵ-sth₂-ḗn | — |
| 10 | Proto-Indo-European | steh₂- | to stand |
via English ful
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | ful | — |