Where does “viewpoint” come from?
Viewpoint combines English point from Old French point (Latin punctum, "small hole or mark made by pricking") with English view from Middle English vewe, Old French veue, and Latin vidēre ("to see").
viewpoint (English): The position from which something is observed or...
Definitions
- The position from which something is observed or...
Ancestry of “viewpoint”, step by step
viewpoint traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via English point
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | point | A discrete division of something; A sharp... |
| 2 | Middle English | point | — |
| 3 | Old French | point | a sting; a prick; moment; time; dot |
| 4 | Latin | pūnctum | point |
| 5 | Latin | punctus | pricked, punctured, pierced, having been pricked;... |
| 6 | Latin | -tus | Forms the past participle of verbs; Forms... |
| 7 | Proto-Italic | -tus | — |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | -tus | Derives action nouns from verb roots |
via English view
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | view | Visual perception; A picture, drawn or painted; a... |
| 2 | Middle English | vewe | A inspection, checkup, or examination, especially... |
| 3 | Anglo-Norman | vewe | sight; viewing; inspection; feminine singular of... |
| 4 | Old French | veue | sight; viewing; inspection; feminine singular of... |
| 5 | Vulgar Latin | *vidūtus | — |