Where does “tricolour” come from?
Tricolour comes from French tricolore, composed of tri- meaning three and colore meaning colour, originally describing a flag with three colours.
tricolour (English): A flag consisting of three stripes that are...
Definitions
- A flag consisting of three stripes that are...
Ancestry of “tricolour”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | French | tricolore | three-colored; French flag |
| 2 | Latin | tricolor | three-coloured |
| 3 | Latin | color | colour, shade; color; pigment; complexion |
| 4 | Ancient Greek | μέτρον | something used to measure: measure, rule, weight;... |
| 5 | Ancient Greek | -τρον | Forms instrument nouns |
| 6 | Proto-Hellenic | -tron | Forms instrument nouns from verb stems |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | -trom | Forms nouns denoting a tool or instrument |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | -tḗr | Derives agent nouns from verbs, denoting someone... |