Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “tile” come from?

Tile comes from Middle English tile, from Old English tieġle, from Proto-Germanic tigulǭ, from Latin tegula meaning a roof tile, from Latin tego meaning to cover, from Proto-Indo-European (s)teg- meaning to cover or roof.

tile (English): A regularly-shaped slab of clay or other...

Definitions

  1. A regularly-shaped slab of clay or other...

Ancestry of “tile”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Middle EnglishTīle—
2Old Englishtiġeletile; brick; tile
3Proto-Germanictigulǭtile; brick
4Latintēgula—
5Latintegō—
6Proto-Italictegōcover
7Proto-Indo-European(s)teg-to cover; pole, stick, beam

Words derived from “tile”

  • tilework
  • tilefish
  • pantile
  • tileable
  • tilemaker
  • tilery
  • untile
  • retile
  • pantiled
  • draintile
  • tilemaking
  • tilelike
  • tileworks
  • tileset
  • tilestone
  • rooftile
  • prototile
  • tileboard
  • tilebased
  • tileless
  • tilemap
  • microtile
  • supertile
  • pentile
Every word from Proto-Indo-European (s)teg- →