Where does “towmaster” come from?

towmaster (English) comes from English Master, from English Mast, from French masse, from Old French mace, from Vulgar Latin mattia, from Latin mateola, from Latin -ulus, from Proto-Italic -olos — Forms agent nouns from verbal roots.

towmaster (English): One who is employed to manage the towing of a...

Definitions

  1. One who is employed to manage the towing of a...

Ancestry of “towmaster”, step by step

towmaster traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.

via English Master

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1EnglishMasterPrepended to a boy's name or surname as a form...
2EnglishMast
3Frenchmassea paste, a dough; large amount or quantity of...
4Old Frenchmacemace weapon
5Vulgar Latinmattia
6LatinmateolaThe meaning of this term is uncertain....
7Latin-ulusUsed to form a diminutive of a noun, indicating...
8Proto-Italic-olos
9Proto-Italic-elosForms desubstantival and deadjectival diminutive nouns
10Proto-Indo-European-e-lós
11Proto-Indo-European-lósForms agent nouns from verbal roots

via English tow

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1EnglishtowTo pull something behind one using a line or...
2Middle Englishtowen
3Old Englishtogianto tow
4Proto-Germanictugōnąto pull, tow
5Proto-Indo-Europeandewk-to pull, to draw; to lead
Every word from Proto-Indo-European -lósEvery word from Latin -ulusEvery word from Latin mateola