Where does “throwback” come from?
Throwback is a combination of English throw and English back, ultimately deriving from Middle English throwe, Old Swedish nattbakka, Latin bassus, and Ancient Greek βάσις, tracing back to Proto-Indo-European gʷémtis.
throwback (English): A reversion to an earlier stage of development; A...
Definitions
- A reversion to an earlier stage of development; A...
Ancestry of “throwback”, step by step
throwback traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via English back
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | back | Near the rear; Not current; Far from the main... |
| 2 | French | bac | ferry; vat; high school exit exam in France; A... |
| 3 | French | baccalauréat | baccalaureat; bachelor's degree |
| 4 | Medieval Latin | baccalaureatus | bachelor's degree |
| 5 | Latin | baccalaureus | bachelor |
| 6 | Latin | laurea | laurel, bay tree; crown, wreath or branch of... |
| 7 | Latin | laurus | laurel tree; laurels; a crown of laurel |
| 8 | English | -aceous | Of, relating to, resembling or containing the... |
| 9 | Latin | -āceus | aceous; resembling, having the nature of, forming, belonging to |
| 10 | Latin | -āx | ish, -y |
| 11 | Latin | -ium | Suffix used to form abstract nouns, sometimes... |
| 12 | Latin | -ius | forming adjectives from nouns; nominative neuter... |
| 13 | Proto-Italic | -jōs | Forms comparative adjectives |
| 14 | Proto-Indo-European | -yós | Creates adjectives from noun or verb stems |
via English throw
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | throw | To hurl; to cause an object to move rapidly... |
| 2 | Middle English | throwen | to throw |
| 3 | Old English | þrāwan | to turn, twist, wind; to turn, twist, curl, rack,... |
| 4 | Proto-West Germanic | þrāan | to twist |
| 5 | Proto-Germanic | þrēaną | to twist, to turn |
| 6 | Proto-Indo-European | terh₁- | to rub, turn; to drill, pierce |