Where does “waistline” come from?
Waistline combines English line with English wast, from Old English wāst, tracing through Proto-Germanic and Proto-Indo-European roots related to growth and being.
waistline (English): a line around the body at the waist; its...
Definitions
- a line around the body at the waist; its...
Ancestry of “waistline”, step by step
waistline traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via English line
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | line | A path through two or more points (compare ‘segment’); a continuous mark, including as made by a pen; any path, curved or straight |
| 2 | Middle English | line | rope, cord; line, rule, ruler, measure; rule,... |
| 3 | Old English | līne | line, rope, cord; line, cable, rope, hawser,... |
| 4 | Proto-West Germanic | *līnā | line, chord, rope, string |
| 5 | Proto-Germanic | līnǭ | that which is made of flax; line, chord, rope,... |
| 6 | Proto-Germanic | līną | flax |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | līno- | flax |
via English waist
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | waist | The part of the body between the pelvis and the... |
| 2 | Middle English | wast | Second-person singular past indicative form of... |
| 3 | Latin | vāstitās | waste (empty place), desert |
| 4 | Latin | -tās | ty, -dom, -hood, -ness, -ship |
| 5 | Proto-Indo-European | -teh₂ts | Used to form nouns representing state of being |
| 6 | Proto-Indo-European | -teh₂ | Used to form nouns representing state of being |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | -tós | Creates verbal adjectives from verb stems |