Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “wheelchair” come from?

Wheelchair derives from English wheel plus chair, with chair tracing to Middle English whele, Old English hwēol, Latin cathedra, and Ancient Greek καθέδρα, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European kʷel- meaning to turn or revolve.

wheelchair (English): A chair mounted on large wheels for the...

Definitions

  1. A chair mounted on large wheels for the...

Ancestry of “wheelchair”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1EnglishchairAn item of furniture used to sit on or in,...
2EnglishChucka Chuck Taylor All-Stars shoe
3EnglishchockAny object used as a wedge or filler, especially...
4Frenchchoquerto hit, to collide; to shock
5Germanschockieren—
6Spanishchocarto crash; to bump into, to collide with; to...
7Portuguesechocarto brood; to hatch; to linger
8Russianшоки́ровать—
9Russian-и́ровать—
10German-ierenVerb suffix: it and its inflected forms are found...
11French-erForms infinitives of first-conjugation verbs
12English-erA person or thing that does an action indicated...
13Middle English-eragentive suffix; agent noun suffix
14Old French-erAlternative form of -ier, verbal suffix;...
15Latin-āre—
16Proto-Italic-āōForms primarily denominative verbs
17Proto-Indo-European-eh₂yétiCreates iterative/ frequentative/ intensive...
18Proto-Indo-European-yétiCreates intransitive, often deponent,...

Words derived from “wheelchair”

  • wheelchairbound
  • wheelchaired
  • nonwheelchair
  • wheelchair motocross
  • wheelchair basketball
  • 휠체어
  • ویلچر
Every word from Proto-Indo-European -yéti →