Where does “tinsel” come from?
Tinsel comes from Middle French estincelle, from Latin scintilla meaning spark, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European roots skey- and sek- meaning to cut or split.
tinsel (English): A shining material used for ornamental purposes;...
Definitions
- A shining material used for ornamental purposes;...
Ancestry of “tinsel”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Navajo | -TIN | to freeze |
| 2 | Proto-Athabaskan | tən | ice, frost |
| 3 | Persian | تن | body; person; tonne |
| 4 | English | ton | A unit of weight equal to 2240 pounds or 2000... |
| 5 | English | tun | A large cask; an oblong vessel bulging in the... |
| 6 | Middle English | tunne | cask; barrel |
| 7 | Old English | tunne | barrel, cask |
| 8 | Proto-Germanic | tunnǭ | — |
| 9 | Latin | tunna | tun, box |
| 10 | Proto-Celtic | tondā | skin; surface, skin |
| 11 | Proto-Indo-European | tend- | to stretch, to extend; to split, cut off |
| 12 | Proto-Indo-European | temh₂- | to stretch, string; to cut |