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 | French | ton | Your, thy; Tone; Tone, shade |
| 6 | Old French | ton | your |
| 7 | Latin | tuus | your |
| 8 | Russian | туз | ace; bigwig; two-oar dinghy |
| 9 | Polish | tuz | ace; luminary, person of importance in their... |
| 10 | Polish | tu | here |
| 11 | Polish | być | to be |
| 12 | Polish | móc | to be able; may, might; to be allowed |
| 13 | Old Polish | móc | can, may, to be able to |
| 14 | Proto-Slavic | moťь | power |
| 15 | Proto-Indo-European | mógʰtis | — |