Where does “tel” come from?
tel (English) comes from English telegraph, from French télégraphe, from French télé-, from Ancient Greek τῆλε, from Latin commūnicāre, from Latin commūnis, from Old Latin com(m)oinis, from Proto-Italic kommoinis — to bend; curve; arch; vault; to bow, bend, arch,...
tel (English): Abbreviation of telephone number; Abbreviation of...
Definitions
- Abbreviation of telephone number; Abbreviation of...
Ancestry of “tel”, step by step
tel traces back through 3 separate lines of ancestry.
via English telegraph
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | telegraph | An apparatus, or a process, for communicating... |
| 2 | French | télégraphe | telegraph |
| 3 | French | télé- | tele- |
| 4 | Ancient Greek | τῆλε | far off, afar, far away |
| 5 | Latin | commūnicāre | — |
| 6 | Latin | commūnis | common, commonplace, ordinary, general, universal, shared, shared alike, of both sides, belonging to two or more together |
| 7 | Old Latin | com(m)oinis | — |
| 8 | Proto-Italic | kommoinis | common |
| 9 | Proto-Indo-European | ḱom-moy-ni- | held in common |
| 10 | Proto-Indo-European | ḱóm | beside, near, by, with |
| 11 | Proto-Indo-European | ḱe | Deictic particle, here; Post-positional... |
| 12 | Middle English | kyt | — |
| 13 | German | kitt | putty certain kinds of cement used for fixing e.g. window panes |
| 14 | Old High German | kuti | — |
| 15 | Proto-West Germanic | kwidu | gum, resin |
| 16 | Proto-Germanic | kweduz | resin |
| 17 | Proto-Indo-European | gʷet- | resin, gum; to say, speak |
| 18 | Proto-Indo-European | gū- | to bend; curve; arch; vault; to bow, bend, arch,... |
via English tell
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | tell | To count, reckon, or enumerate; To narrate; To... |
| 2 | Middle English | tellen | to count; to tell |
| 3 | Old English | tellan | to count, calculate; to tell, narrate, recount;... |
| 4 | Proto-West Germanic | talljan | to count, to enumerate; to recount, to tell |
| 5 | Proto-Germanic | taljaną | to enumerate, count; to account, recount, tell |
| 6 | Proto-Germanic | talą | speech; number |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | dol- | reckoning, calculation, fraud; calculation, fraud |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | del- | to aim, calculate, adjust, count; to reckon,... |
via English telegram
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | telegram | A message transmitted by telegraph; To send a... |
| 2 | English | -gram | Something written, drawn or otherwise recorded |
| 3 | Ancient Greek | γράμμα | that which is written, that which is drawn,... |
| 4 | Ancient Greek | -μᾰ | "suffix forming a noun denoting the result of an... |
| 5 | Proto-Indo-European | -mn̥ | Creates action nouns or result nouns from verbs |